The Immediate Action Plan - DR ABC
People at work or home can suffer injury or illness at anytime. It doesn't matter whether this is caused by their work or not - what is important is that the first person to arrive at the scene of the situation, makes priority arrangements to ensure the casualty receives immediate attention if they are injured or taken ill. The initial management of injuries and illness, until expert medical attention is received, could make a difference between life and death.

The immediate action plan consists of five steps:
Danger,
Response,
Airway,
Breathing and
Circulation.

Danger

Once an emergency has occurred you need to ensure the safety of all those at the scene. The groups that you need to consider are: yourself bystanders and casualties.

Take the time to conduct a primary survey of the scene to look for anything that may threaten the safety of those on or around the scene.

Hazards may include: bio-hazards - chemicals - electricity - fallen power lines - fast flowing water - fire - flammable materials - fumes - gases - oncoming traffic - risk of explosion - slippery surfaces- smoke - unstable structures

Leave dangerous situations to the emergency personnel who have the training and equipment to manage the situation. Risking your own safety in a dangerous situation may increase the number of casualties to be managed, so waiting for the emergency services to arrive is the only option.

Other situations may permit the removal of the hazard, or the removal of the casualty from the hazard. Examples of removing a hazard would be cleaning away broken glass at a motor vehicle accident scene, or turning electricity off at the main powerboard in an electrocution incident.

As a general rule you should avoid moving casualties unless there is a hazard that you cannot remove, such as fire or poisonous fumes. The movement of a casualty, especially an unconscious casualty, is very difficult and should be left to ambulance personnel who have the training and equipment necessary to protect themselves and the casualty. If it is essential to move a casualty before an ambulance arrives extreme care should be taken and good manual handling practice must be used.