6 First Aid Skills Everyone Should Know

We all live busy lives and there are many situations that come up where we may be caught off guard. Life can come at your very fast and sometimes you may need to act.

We've seen this over and over in the last few months in New York alone.

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Over the past few weeks, we've had two once-in-a-lifetime winter storms that caused us to go into survival mode, and just this week Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin needed emergency medical attention on the field after a play.

When these situations come up, are you prepared and ready to act? Specifically, do you know what to do if someone needs help?

The Hamlin situation in particular brought out the idea that it's likely a very good idea to get training on how to perform CPR. I was talking with one of my co-workers here at Townsquare Buffalo and she recounted a conversation she had with someone about her not knowing how to perform CPR.

Being CPR certified is important, but it's not the only emergency first aid skill you may need to know. Here are a few other ones that you may want to take the time to learn and get trained on.

First Aid Skills Everyone Should Know

CPR

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, or CPR for short, is probably the one first aid technique that is the best known and is an important skill to learn. Knowing how to perform CPR and do it effectively can help maintain someone's brain function, keep blood circulating, and keep a person breathing.

Using the Heimlich Maneuver

If you come across someone who's choking, the Heimlich maneuver can help free whatever object is caught in the person's throat that's preventing them from breathing. When someone can't breathe, they only have about 5 minutes before some permanent brain damage can occur.

Properly Administering an EpiPen

As someone who carries an EpiPen with him every day due to a few life-threatening allergies, learning how to use and administer an Epinephrine Auto-Injector is a key skill to have. There are millions of Epinephrine devices out in the world and know what to recognize and when to use them can literally save someone's life.

How to Stop Major Bleeding

We all end up with cuts and bruises from time to time, and knowing how to care for and clean a would is key, but sometimes there will be a situation where there's major bleeding, and knowing how to treat someone and prevention them from having major blood lose can come in very handy. Learning how to make a tourniquet can save someone's life.

Treat a Burn

Sometimes a burn isn't a big deal and only needs some topical medicines, other times a burn is a big deal that needs serious medical attention. Being able to spot if someone, who has been burned, has a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd-degree burn is a key skill, and knowing what to do is a good knowledge to have.

Recognize Someone Going Into Shock

All sorts of things can cause someone to go into shock, things as trauma or heatstroke. A person going into shock may experience a sudden drop in blood flow and may quickly need some of these other first aid techniques and being able to recognize the signs of shock is very important.

What are some other first aid skills out there that you think we should know?