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The Curious Bag
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Emergency medical services, such as first responders with the fire department and emergency medical technicians, are usually the first on the scene of an emergency. Proper response can mean the difference between life and death for people involved.
The Unresponsive Patient
When EMS responds to a call and finds the patient unresponsive, they will first check basic life support for a clear airway, breathing and circulation. Loss of any one of these life-sustaining functions can mean death.
ABC
ABC is a common mnemonic used as a memory aid to remind all of the essential steps necessary to treat a patient. It stands for "airway," "breathing" and "circulation."
Airway
EMS will check the patient's airway. A blocked airway means the patient will not be breathing.
Breathing
If the patient is not breathing, then oxygen is not getting to the lungs and being passed to the blood and life-depleting carbon dioxide is not being removed.
Circulation
The pulse is checked to determine if heart is beating. The heart pumps the blood that delivers the oxygen, and removes the CO2 from the blood, throughout the entire body.
Assessment
Constant assessment of these three basic life-sustaining functions are done throughout treatment in order to note a change in the patient's status.
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