First responder

[IllinoisExp]

I am curently takeing my first responder certification in school and am wondering if anyone knows what a first responder can do in Illinois. I would ask my instructor but they do not like to answer a lot of questions that do not portane to that days lecture.

[firefighterox]

What you learn in class is basically your "scope of practice" A first responder is responsible for starting prehospital care prior to an ambulances arrival. You are to get a baseline set of vital, start treatment of oxygen if necessary, defibrilate if necessary, begin CPR depends on the situation. Sometimes you just need to comfort the patient because there isnt much else you can do. As for traumatic injuries you can control bleeding, do spinal immobilization. And most of all you need to make sure what you are doing is what the patient needs. You can only treat what you see. Basically you do all the basic stuff for the ambulance so when they get there you can load and go. Your objective is to make sure that patients condition does not get worse from the time you get there till the time that ambulance leaves.