Medical emergencies

• Call an ambulance if anything seems wrong. CPR if not breathing normally.
• Help them lie on the floor (or, if they won’t, bring a chair to them). On their side if unresponsive. Control bleeding.
• Think of low blood sugar or anaphylaxis.
• Keep them warm (unless they are hot). Reassure and keep watching.

If signs are severe, getting worse, or last more than 10 minutes:

1. Rest. Help them take their own angina medicine.
2. Call an ambulance and follow the call-taker’s instructions.
3. Adult with chest pain (not from injury): give aspirin 300 mg by mouth unless they are known to have had anaphylaxis to aspirin.
4. Get an AED ready.

• Face: ask them to smile. Is it drooping?
• Arms: can they raise both arms?
• Speech: can they repeat a simple phrase?
• Time: call an ambulance straight away.

Other signs: numbness, trouble swallowing, dizziness or falls, loss of vision, sudden severe headache, drowsiness, confusion.

Call even if the symptoms go away. Nothing to eat or drink. On their side if unconscious.

1. Sit them upright. Stay with them.
2. Give 4 separate puffs of reliever (blue/grey puffer, e.g. Ventolin, Asmol), one puff at a time through a spacer, 4 breaths per puff. No spacer: use the puffer alone. Borrow one if needed.
3. Wait 4 minutes. No better: 4 more puffs.
4. Still no better: call an ambulance. Keep giving 4 puffs every 4 minutes.

Call 000 straight away if they can only say 1 or 2 words, have blue lips, the throat or ribs suck in, they are drowsy, or the reliever isn’t helping.

A reliever won’t harm someone who doesn’t have asthma. If they are at risk of anaphylaxis and you are unsure which it is, give adrenaline first, then reliever.

1. Lay them flat. Don’t let them stand or walk (sit if breathing is hard).
2. Remove the trigger if you can.
3. Adrenaline autoinjector into the outer thigh: 0.15 mg for children under 5, 0.3 mg for over 5.
4. Call an ambulance. Give asthma reliever for breathing symptoms.
5. No response after 5 minutes: give a second dose if available. CPR if needed.

Bites and stings: see Dangerous Australian animals.

1. If they can swallow and follow instructions, give 15 to 20 g of glucose: 4 to 5 glucose tablets (4 g each), or 15 g glucose gel, or 3 teaspoons of honey or sugar, or about 200 mL of juice or soft drink (not diet), or 5 to 10 Mentos, 20 to 25 Skittles, or 5 to 20 jelly beans.
2. They should improve within 15 minutes. If not, repeat after 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Then give longer-lasting food: bread, milk, fruit or yoghurt.
4. Getting worse, seizure or unconscious: call an ambulance, put them on their side. Don’t touch an insulin pump.

Unsure if it is high or low? Treat as low. High blood sugar (thirst, passing lots of urine, dry mouth, fast deep breathing, acetone breath, confusion) needs a health professional.