First Aid

South East Metropolitan Junior Cricket Association

BASIC FIRST AID

A Airway: Where there is an injury to an airway such as a ball or bat in the face, throat or neck which causes swelling and any difficulty in breathing - Seek Medical advice.

Asthma: Player should provide their own Medication if they have a history of asthmatic episodes. Signs and Symptoms: Wheezy with difficult breathing.

B Bleeding: Apply firm pressure with a clean dressing or cloth. If bleeding is profuse or doesn’t stop in a few minutes, Seek Medical advice. Once bleeding settles if appropriate apply clean dressing or bandaid. (Please use disposable gloves provided.)

Bruising: Apply ice pad gently to affected area. Keep in place up to an hour.

Broken Limbs: See Fractures.

C Collapse: This maybe due to heat exhaustion, low blood sugar, fainting, fit or a catastrophic event. The treatment depends on the cause. Try to ascertain what the cause and treat accordingly. Place the person on the side in the ‘recovery’ position.

Check         A: Airway – make sure they have a clear airway
                B: Breathing – See if they are breathing and their colour is pink and normal
                C: Circulation – Feel for a pulse either on the side of the neck or at the inside of the wrist. Use your fingers not your thumb.

Heat exhaustion: Place the person in a cool place, loosen any tight clothing. When awake, offer small sips of cool (not freezing or frozen) fluid, either water or ‘Sport’ type electrolyte drink such as Powerade or Gatorade. Use damp cloth to wipe face and neck to encourage body cooling, but not ice or excessive wetting down as this will cause shivering and further increase body temperature.

Low Blood Sugar: Find out if the person is diabetic (they should be wearing a Medical Alert Bracelet) and if they are unconscious seek medical help. If drowsy and feeling faint, then offer a small sweet such as barley sugar or chocolate. Usually they will have something available, as they know if this is a problem. If the person affected is not diabetic, then offer a sweet drink or biscuit.

The effect is usually fairly quick and the person should be able to resume playing, with further intake of food/drink at each break to maintain sugar levels.

Fainting: Place the affected person in the ‘recovery’ position as shown in Fig.A. Once consciousness returns, if due to either heat exhaustion or low blood sugar, treat as above.

Fit: Should a person have a fit or seizure, place in the ‘recovery’ position, with a clear airway. Do not put anything into their mouth. Once the seizure has passed, seek medical advice.

Catastrophic event: Should a person become unconscious due to a blow in the chest, head or for some other reason and you have done a resuscitation check ie ‘A, B, & C ‘as above. Seek urgent medical advice if they remain unconscious for more than a few minutes, you are unable to find their pulse or they are not breathing easily.

Cramp: This is can be treated effectively by briskly rubbing the affected muscle and changing the position of the nearby muscles by stretching. Increasing ‘Sport’ electrolyte fluids can help, and preventing cramp by doing effective stretching exercises prior to playing.

Cuts: Wash with clean water, stop any bleeding with firm pressure. If appropriate cover with a bandaid or clean dry dressing.

D Dehydration: Signs and Symptoms include dry mouth, and skin, headache, nausea, stomach cramps and feeling faint. Treat as for low blood sugar with small frequent sips until nausea passes.

Dislocation: Should a dislocation of the collarbone be suspected, place the arm across the chest with the fingers pointing up to the opposite shoulder. With a finger or knee put ice pack on and as for the collarbone, seek medical advice.

Dog Bite: Wash bite area with clean water and disinfectant if available.

F Fractures: If there is a suspected fracture, seek medical advice. Signs and symptoms include distortion of a limb or joint, excessive pain on movement and lack of mobility. Swelling and Bruising don’t necessarily indicate a fracture.

H Headache: This may be related to low blood sugar or heat exhaustion and may be treated as outlined earlier. Should the headache persist refer to parents for further treatment or medical advice. Simple analgesia such as paracetamol or “Panadol” can be given safely to anyone who isn’t reactive to it.

N Nosebleeds: Pinch the bridge of the nose to reduce bleeding. Do not blow the nose as this increases the bleeding. Hold a clean tissue to the nose until the bleeding stops. These often occur on hot days and increasing fluids can help.

R Resuscitation: Should there be a full collapse, and the person doesn’t show any attempt to breathe or have a palpable pulse, following a resuscitation check as outlined above. Commence full resuscitation whilst waiting for the ambulance to attend.

Two operators are needed, one to perform mouth to mouth or expired air resuscitation, and the other to perform external cardiac compression.

The rate for children over 2 years is the same for adults, ie 1 breath to 5 compressions.

S Snake Bite: Should there be an obvious snake bite or suspected snake bite, try to ascertain what kind of snake is responsible by getting a good description of its markings, colour and size.

Symptoms appear within 15 minutes to two hours and include nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, headache sweating and pain in the chest or abdomen.

Wash affected area and bandage firmly, transport victim lying down to the nearest emergency department.

Sprains: Treatment for sprains and/or suspected fractures is

Rest                 Rest
Ice                   Place icepack onto the affected area
Compression    Bandage the area (if appropriate) firmly
Elevation           Lift the affected area to discourage swelling.

T Teeth: Should a tooth become completely dislodged, locate the tooth, pack in ice and take the affected person and the tooth to an Emergency Department; these can often be replaced without the loss of the tooth.

Thanks to Haydee Cowper for this information. This page is provided in good faith but does not provide definitive information. You are encouraged to seek professional help always.

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