Stay Calm when Treating a Wilderness Injury

Video Transcript

"Approaching the scene of an accident can be a scary thing for everyone. And there are a couple of things that you've really got to remember whenever you are approaching a scene. Number one is going to be that it's a scary place. A lot of times there's blood, people are crying, and there's a lot of distress going on. People become personally attached in this situation, and a lot of times people understand first aid and yet they're still not able to offer the knowledge to the victim that they already have and have been trained on. So one of the things you've got to remember is to stay calm as a rescuer, to come up and to really look at the situation, see what's happened, understand the emotions that are playing out inside the scene in front of you, and to go ahead and assess who needs immediate care. As soon as you realize who needs the first care, you should approach very slowly and calmly, after you've assessed the scene, and remain cheerful. Being cheerful can really help a victim. As long as you have a good attitude, you make them feel comfortable, a lot of times you can go ahead and relieve them from some of the shock that they're feeling from the situation, and alleviate some of the tears and some of the anguish that they might have just out of sheer embarrassment. Making sure that you pull in other people and that you ask if anyone else is first-aid certified, and making sure that everyone who is, who is in a decent mind state, is actually helping the situation and working toward a resolution where the victim gets appropriate medical care is the optimal situation. So remember, approach calmly, keep your head about you, be cheerful, and remember that nobody likes looking at blood, and that as long as you go ahead and relax, and you communicate clearly, and you offer the knowledge that you have, most of the times people end up staying alive. "