WANDERERS MC MOTORCYCLE SAFETY


Biker Down: How to Respond in an Emergency PAGE 3

What to Do,
What Not to Do

Conscious? Breathing? Pulse? Bleeding? (Cont'd) Once a victim's airway is open, lean down and put your ear close to his/her mouth. Can you hear breaths, or feel them on your cheek? Is the victim's chest rising and falling? Does his/her skin look pale or blue?

Being careful not to move your friend's head or neck, you gently grasp his chin and lower jaw and slide it up (away from his throat) to clear his airway. For 5 long seconds you look, listen, and feel for breathing. It's impossible to hear anything over the crowd and highway noises, but you think you feel a slight breath on your cheek. Your friend's rumpled, bloody jacket makes it difficult to see whether or not his chest is rising and falling. Your first aid kit is now on the ground beside you.

If you can't determine for sure whether or not a victim is breathing, you may need to expose (or partially expose) his/her chest. This is where your motorcycle first aid kit comes in. It should include latex gloves to use when blood or other body fluids are present, and some heavy-duty shears capable of cutting through leather and other tough fabrics.

If a victim is breathing, you can take it for granted that he/she has a pulse as well. (The opposite isn't true; you can have a pulse but still not be breathing.) In cases where a victim is not breathing, you need to begin rescue breathing.

Just so you'll know, rescue breathing isn't as simple as it looks on TV, where the Baywatch Babes casually give the "kiss of life" to handsome near-drowning victims. Until you practice on a CPR manikin, you won't appreciate the difficulty of gauging how far back you have to tilt someone's head (or lift their chin) to open their airway, how to get a good mouth-to-mouth seal, or how much air to breathe into another person's lungs. Effective rescue breathing is best learned in a hands-on setting. Take the class!

Still, here are the steps involved:

* Pinch the victim's nose shut, open your mouth WIDE, and cover the victim's entire mouth with yours.

* Exhale slowly into the victim's mouth, only until the chest gently rises.

* After two breaths, check for a pulse on the side of the victim's neck by lightly placing your fingers in the groove alongside his/her windpipe. DO NOT compress the windpipe! Check for a pulse for 5 to 10 seconds.

If you detect a pulse, continue rescue breathing until medical help arrives. For adults, you give 1 breath about every 5 seconds. Count aloud: "ONE one-thousand TWO one-thousand THREE one-thousand FOUR one-thousand--" (breathe). Recheck for breathing and pulse every minute or so.

If you can't find a pulse, or if you lose a pulse after starting rescue breathing, you'll need to either use an A.E.D. (Automatic External Defibrillator) to shock the heart into restarting, or begin CPR-- chest compressions + rescue breathing. Chest compressions can't restart the heart; they simply force oxygen-carrying blood to circulate throughout the body. This buys a little time for the victim until an ambulance can arrive with equipment and drugs to restart the heart.

As with rescue breathing, chest compressions can only be effectively learned in a hands-on session. As a quick reminder and update for those who have been CPR certified in the past, here are the current steps for adult victims:

* Place the heel of your right hand in the center of the chest, over the breastbone. Place your left hand on top of your right hand, lacing your fingers together for added stability. * With your arms straight, position your body so your shoulders are directly over your hands. * Compress chest 15 times, counting aloud. ("ONE and TWO and THREE and FOUR and...") The 15 compressions should be completed in about 10 seconds. * Give two rescue breaths. * Repeat cycles of 15 compressions/2 breaths for about one minute, then pause to recheck for breathing and a pulse.

BIKER DOWN: Cont'd (Page 4)