THE CLOCK IS TICKING....
Be familiar with the concept of the GOLDEN HOUR, a concept adapted from human medicine -- meaning for certain emergencies if you do not get the patient into an operating theatre within 1 hour the chance of survival is low.
MECHANISMS OF INJURIES REQUIRING RAPID TRANSPORT TO HOSPITAL:
- FALL FROM 20 FT
- MOTOR VEHICLE TRAUMA
- ENCOUNTER WITH LARGER ANIMALS, (WILDLIFE, BIG DGS VS LITTLE DOG)
- INTOXICATION/ POISON EXPOSURE
- ENVENOMATION
- LABOURED BREATHING
- DISTENDED ABDOMEN/ABDOMINAL PAIN
- INABILITY TO URINATE
- LABOURED BREATHING
- WEAKNESS
- CRUSHING INJURIES
- WEAKNESS INABILITY TO GET UP
- LOSS OF BALANCE
- CHANGE IN CONSCIOUSNESS
- SEIZURES
- DYSTOCIA
- BLEEDING
You may remember during the introduction of this course I said:
"I noticed that a lot of people with "first aid training" were doing more harm than good in real emergencies, especially delaying at at the scene (in hit by car scenarios most often) for far too long while they tried to render "first aid" to pets who were in immediate life-threatening condition. By the time those pets made it to the ER (with beginner level splints and bandages on all of their minor abrasions), they were already dead and could not be saved. When really, the proper course of action would have been to skip the bandages and get the patient to the ER as swiftly as possible."
Sometimes the best first aid is "scoop and run." Meaning, recognize that the type of injury falls in this category of urgency, and get to the ER as quickly and safely as possible.