FIRST AID KIT By
Ku Ahmad Mudrikah Ku Mukhtar , Mohammad Hafizh Asyraf Ismail , Ahmad Farhan Ahmad Fuad, Afif Asyraf, Zaki Zakwan

First aid is a vital aspect in every household. It means the initial or the first action to be done in case of an emergency . In other words, it is the administration of emergency assistance to individuals who have been injured or otherwise disabled, prior to the arrival of a physician or transportation to a hospital. It may improve the situation or perhaps solving the problem all together. But, first aid should never be the substitution for definitive medical care.

The kit should contain the following items

• Sterilized cotton gauze swab.
• Sterilized gauze and cotton wool pad.
• Assorted adhesive plasters.
• Elastic bandages.
• Triangular bandage.
• Clinical thermometer.
• Scissors.
• Pointed tweezers.
• Safety pins or clips.
• External medication – anti-itch cream, antiseptic lotion, etc.
• Internal medication – antacid, pain reliever, fever reliever, etc.

The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require you to provide adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and people so your employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work.

What is ‘adequate and appropriate’ will depend on the circumstances in your workplace and you should assess what your first-aid needs are.

The minimum first-aid provision on any work site is:

■ a suitably stocked first-aid box.

■ an appointed person to take charge of first-aid arrangements.

■ information for employees about first-aid arrangements.

It is important to remember that accidents and illness can happen at any time. First-aid provision needs to be available at all times people are at work.

First- Aider

A first-aider is someone who has undertaken training and has a qualification that HSE approves. This means that they must hold a valid certificate of competence in either:

■ first aid at work (FAW), issued by a training organisation approved by HSE; or

■ emergency first aid at work (EFAW), issued by a training organisation approved by HSE or a recognised Awarding Body of Ofqual/Scottish Qualifications Authority.

You can obtain lists of suitable training providers and Awarding Bodies from HSE’s Infoline.

Use the findings of your first-aid needs assessment to decide whether first-aiders should be trained in FAW or EFAW. EFAW training enables a first-aider to give emergency first aid to someone who is injured or becomes ill while at work. FAW training includes EFAW and also equips the first-aider to apply first aid to a range of specific injuries and illness. As a guide, Table 2 suggests the first-aid personnel to provide under different circumstances.

To help keep their basic skills up to date, it is strongly recommended that your firstaiders undertake annual refresher training. The training organisations referred to above can run these courses.