RESUSCITATION COUNCIL GUIDELINES UPDATE 2021
- Quay Medical
- Aug 27, 2021
- 2 min read
There are no major protocol changes and the minor changes, to both adult and paediatric first aid, are detailed below
Adult First Aid
Recovery position – To be used only when needed and not routinely. As a rule of thumb, if an unresponsive casualty has no evidence of trauma, they should be placed in the recovery position. If a casualty has physical trauma they should be left in the position found, ideally flat with their airway open. Only if you believe their airway to be at risk should the casualty be placed in the recovery position, injured side down
Concussion – When treating a concussion with a cold compress, this should not be applied for longer than 20 minutes
Control of bleeding – If a dressing becomes soiled, rather than apply another dressing on top, the soiled dressing should be removed, the bleeding controlled again and a new dressing reapplied
Paediatric First Aid
Definition of a child - The Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) and European Resuscitation Council (ERC) defines a child as being from 1 year old through to 18 years old. Previously this was defined as up to the ‘onset of puberty’. First aiders should make a common sense judgement based on the size of the casualty, and if in any doubt they should adopt paediatric protocols
Recovery position – To be used only when needed and not routinely. As a rule of thumb, if an unresponsive casualty has no evidence of trauma, they should be placed in the recovery position. If a casualty has physical trauma they should be left in the position found, ideally flat with their airway open. Only if you believe their airway to be at risk should the casualty be placed in the recovery position, injured side down
Concussion – When treating a concussion with a cold compress, this should not be applied for longer than 20 minutes
Control of bleeding – If a dressing becomes soiled, rather than apply another dressing on top, the soiled dressing should be removed, the bleeding controlled again and a new dressing reapplied
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