Top Things to Know: 2020 AHA/ARC Focused Update for First Aid
Published: October 21, 2020
- This “2020 American Heart Association (AHA) and American Red Cross Focused Update for First Aid” incorporates systematic reviews conducted by the First Aid Task Force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR). Systematic reviews conducted by ILCOR provided up-to date science for international use and translated for the North American Guidelines.
- First aid providers can use the signs of weakness in the face (e.g. droop), arm or grip on one side of the body, or speech disturbance to identify individuals with possible stroke and should active emergency services when this occurs.
- After activating emergency services, first aid providers may encourage alert adults experiencing nontraumatic chest pain to chew and swallow 162-324mg of aspirin, this recommendation applies to all adults except for individuals who have an aspiring allergy or individuals who have been advised by healthcare provider not to take aspirin.
- Alert adults and children with suspected hypoglycemia should be given glucose to swallow. If symptoms worsen or do not resolve within 10 minutes, emergency services should be activated.
- Tourniquets should be used as soon as available for the treatment of life-threating extremity bleeding or bleeding that cannot be controlled with direct pressure.
- Direct manual pressure, with the use of a hemostatic dressing if available should be used for treatment of injuries with life-threatening bleeding not amenable to the use of a tourniquet, or for extremity bleeding until a tourniquet is available.
- Following avulsion of a permanent tooth, emergency replantation of the rinsed tooth is often the most appropriate treatment, however, when this is not available the avulsed tooth can be transported in Hanks’s Balanced Salt Solution or oral rehydration salt solution or wrapped in cling film to prevent dehydration. If these are not available cow’s milk or saliva may be considered. The avulsed tooth should never be stored in tap water.
- For people experiencing exertional hyperthermia or heatstroke, cold-water, whole body immersion is the most effective technique for rapidly reducing core temperature and should be initiated as soon as possible and continued until a temperature of < 39°C (102.2°F) is reached or resolution of signs and symptoms of heatstroke occurs. If cold-water, whole-body immersion is not available, other forms of cooling, such as commercially prepared ice packs, cold showers, and fanning, may be reasonable.
Citation
Pellegrino JL, Charlton NP, Carlson JN, Flores GE, Goolsby CA, Hoover AV, Kule A, Magid DJ, Orkin AM, Singletary EM, Slater TM, Swain JM. 2020 American Heart Association and American Red Cross focused update for first aid. Circulation. 2020;142:e287–e303. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000900.