You must have off grid first aid skills, especially if you live in inaccessible areas. Having these skills will not only help you save a family member’s life, but could help you save your own life. And that is why I thought I’d brief you over a few off grid first aid skills you can start practicing right away.
Here we go.
4 Off Grid First Aid Skills You Can Apply During Emergencies
1. Apply a Tourniquet
Cuts can turn into a life-threatening situation, especially if the bleeding can’t stop. The chances are that you’ll lose a lot of blood and this is quite dangerous. Instead of waiting for an ambulance, you can start by your shirt, towel, or any piece of cloth to serve as your emergency tourniquet, though it would help if you get a real tourniquet, specifically designed to serve this purpose. So how do you apply a tourniquet?
- The first step is to place your tourniquet above the injury (should be 2 inches)
- The second step is to tie the tourniquet tightly such that you cannot feel the pulse.
- Next, put in a bandage to the injury.
- In about fifteen minutes, release the tourniquet.
2. Perform CPR
Breathing emergencies often occur at the least expected times, which doesn’t mean that we should lose a life. If you have this off grid first aid skill – performing pulmonary cardiopulmonary resuscitation. All you have to do is to chest compress someone having breathing difficulties in a well-ventilated area. The reason why you should do this is to allow normal brain functioning while restoring blood circulation. It is important to note that this process could be slightly different for children and adults.
3. Perform the Heimlich Maneuver
Choking is ranked fourth in the leading causes of deaths resulting from accidents in the United States. But not to worry, there’s the Heimlich Maneuver, which is a quite straightforward technique. Here’s how to go about it:
- Make sure that the choked person is standing.
- Get behind the victim and lean him forward.
- Next, subject the affected person to five blows on their back.
- Create a fist by wrapping your arms around the choked person’s waist.
- Now place your fist over the victim’s navel.
- It would help if you covered the fist while pushing upward and inward simultaneously.
- You need to repeat this process until the object choking the person is out, and he or she can cough or breathe.
4. Splint a Broken Bone
This is another better off grid first aid skill that many people aren’t leveraging—applying a splint aids in supporting and protecting injured bones and soft tissues as you wait for appropriate medical treatment. Additionally, splinting a broken bone minimizes the pain and inflammation while preventing muscle spasms.
You don’t have to worry about what you will use as a splint during an emergency. Feel free to use sturdy sticks, newspapers, or cardboard to create a temporary splint. You can then use what you have at hand, such as a shirt, rope, bandana to keep the splint in position until you arrive at a health facility to get medical treatment.
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