What is happening ?

A violent shock, a person is hurt and possibly unconscious. I ask witnesses to join the relief and I make the first gestures without putting myself in danger and without aggravating the situation.

I take action?

I secure, I must avoid the overaccident! If I can, I try to stop the traffic rather than move the injured person. If I am at the scene of the accident with my car, I use mandatory equipment such as the triangle or the yellow vest to warn other motorists and be sure they have spotted me. If I do not have a choice and feel that the situation is dangerous for me or the victim, I pull it by the feet towards the nearest safe place keeping the head-neck-trunk axis aligned to avoid aggravate a possible lesion of the spine. Obviously, it is better to move the victim than to let it be crushed, and we always think of his own safety . If the victim is conscious and breathing, he / she is placed in a safe lateral position, with caution, to prevent choking and to avoid damage to the spine. Finally, we make a compressive bandage. If the person is bleeding a lot, we use a cloth or a plastic and we press very hard with his hand, at the level of the wound. The position is maintained until help arrives.

The mistake to avoid

Trying to remove the helmet if it's a biker is not a good idea: it could make the situation worse . The helmet must be removed in certain situations, especially when it interferes with certain medical practices if the injured person is injured in the skull. In any case, simply open the visor and let the helpers take care of removing it.

Thank you to Dr. Pascal Cassan, medical adviser of the French Red Cross. If you want to be trained in first aid, we go to the caravan of the Red Cross which runs throughout the summer in 10 departments. More info on croix-rouge.fr