DAY 9 - CARING FOR PATIENTS

Most of the world's population have it at the back of the minds that the duty of caring for patients belongs to the medical personnel who can be found in the hospital. While that can be said to be true, it also has some "buts" to it.

First of, Who is a Patient?

Patients can simply be described as people receiving health care services. These people usually have a reason to seek health care providers as they could be ill or injured.

By the above definition, we all can agree that we have been patients at a certain points in our lives right? Some of us have been patients more times than we can count while others have been careful or lucky enough to fall ill or get injured rarely.

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I am aware the definition says "... health care providers" which would involve registered nurses, dentists, physicians, veterinarians and all, but what happens if a person needs health care when non of these people are present?
Let's use a picnic for an example, some go to remote ares to relax with friends and loved ones and these persons may not be medical personnels but would have to take care of a person who suddenly has an attack. Another example would be travelling via an aeroplane.

The cabin crew is responsible for handling in-flight medical emergencies as they are already trained to recognize the symptoms of the very popular types of medical problems and also signs of medical emergencies. In addition, they are trained to perform first aid. When the need arises, they would request for medical doctors amongst the passengers to come forward in assisting or managing an ill passenger.

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*Having said that I want you to picture an emergency situation on a flight you boarded, now there is no medical personal aboard the airplane and you, well you not even a science student but then the cabin crew is calling up for help -- what do you do?

You at that point have the responsibility of caring for the patient right?

A simple or let's say basic knowledge of first aid, as well as some very common health issues could just be what you need. Let's highlight some common health issues which one could develop that would require emergency aid in-flight or anywhere else without a prior warning and discuss them in details.

• An heart attack
• An asthmatic attack
• An epileptic attack

For A Heart Attack Patient.

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Myocardial infarction is the proper name for heart attack. Heart attacks are usually a result of blood clotting which ends up blocking one of the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries are responsible for transporting blood and oxygen to the heart. Once the blood flow gets blocked, the heart is automatically starved of oxygen thus the heart cells die.This is very much different from a sudden cardiac arrest.

Three things one would needs in the advent of an heart attack are an aspirin, oxygen and nitroglycerin. These three things for someone exhibiting symptoms of a heart attack could prevent it from escalating to a sudden cardiac arrest. It is of utmost importance that the aspirin gets into the system as quickly as possible, so it's better if it's chewable, or at least the person should chew. Note : Some people are allergic to aspirin, while others might have been advised by their doctors not to consume them so you have to check for their reports as a measure before administering this, a means to take the person to the nearest hospital should also be provided.

If the patient is unconscious, you can perform something known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). You have to be trained to do that, if not;

• Lay them down in the aisle.

• Start chest compression - This should be fast, deep, consistent and without a pause whatsoever. Recommended at about 100 to 120 compressions a minuite.

While a medical emergency like an in-flight heart attack might occur, it really doesn’t have to end up in a tragedy. Keep yourself informed.

A person who is about to have a heart attack may not notice their symptoms so as an individual, you should learn to watch for: Irregular or rapid heartbeats, Extreme weakness, difficulty breathing - with or without chest pain, pain below the breastbone or in the upper body.

Patients with Epilepsy

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Epileptic seizures could be very much unpredictable, as such they pop up without any warning. A case like this is very much frightening, for the person having the seizure and even those around. Having the knowledge of what exactly to do at that point in time is what would help them and reduce worrying.

Seizures are mostly brief and they often stop by themselves. They are not usually life threatening, and thus do not often require that the epileptic individual be taken to the hospital. Imploring the knowledge of first aid would keep the individual safe but not affect the course of the seizure. .

If an individual develops a major seizure in a crowded place, it is very important for you to stay calm and try to note time when the seizure starts.

• First, what you do is clear space. Gathering around the patient isn't necessary. Let them breath.

• Secondly, the individual with the epileptic seizure should be laid down across the seats and the head and body should be turned on one side. Just be certain that the airway is quite clear so breathing isn't obstructed.

• Pillows or blankets to should put down to prevent the individual's head from hitting the unpadded areas.

• Do not hold them down forcefully and please do not put anything in their mouths. This includes water, food or pills until they are fully awake as these could go into their lungs instead of their stomach.

• Immediately the seizure stops, the individual should put in a resting position, perhaps in a single reclining seat.

• Do stay with them till it ends, they will feel better waking up to you.

In the case that the seizure continues for more than five minutes, then you should be able to administer anti-epileptic drugs (AED) to such patient. Check the patient's baggage, he or she should have it somewhere or call for ambulance.

Care For Asthmatic Patients

Asthmatic attack has different symptoms associated with it. They range from the popular shortage of breath which makes walking and talking difficult for the patient to the patient's lips or fingernails turning pale. In the case where by the individual's medication is available, it's usually outlined on it, but given that the case is different, here what to do:

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• Endeavour to be calm and then reassuring, as this would reduce the stress would help them to keep calm and gain control of their symptoms, panic is what usually increases the severity of an asthmatic attack.

• At this point in time, you should sit them down (do not lie them down), loosen any from of tight clothing which may hinder their breathing. Get their inhaler, the inhaler should be shaken before being administered.

• Inhalers comes with spacers, attach the spacer to the inhaler, then the Individual should breathe out, their lips should be tightly closed around the spacer.

• Press the inhaler once, this would deliver a puff of medication into the spacer. The individual should then slowly inhale, then hold their breath for about ten seconds.

• Press the inhaler to deliver more puffs, you could deliver three puffs ensuring that there is about a minute between each puffs.

• At these point, the patient is either getting better or worse. If better, get the patient to rest, if worse call the hospital.
  

Generally, caring for patients is an art which we all must learn as anyone around us might become patients without warning even when they look or seem very healthy. Keep yourself abrest with first aid treatments for different illness or medical conditions. You might need it to save a life someday.