Analysis of answers to basic first aid skills examination question bank

92% of the frequently wrong questions in the Basic First Aid Skills Test are concentrated in the three modules of "First Aid Priority Determination", "Operation Quantitative Threshold Memory" and "Special Scenario Rule Adaptation". The answers to controversial questions in different assessment systems (Red Cross Society of China Primary First Aid, American Heart Association AHA-BLS, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security Emergency Rescuer Level 5) are based on the official textbook of the assessment system you signed up for. There is no absolute standard answer that can be used across systems.

Last week, there was a girl in the practical training class I led who struggled with the examiner for five minutes because of a priority question: The question was about batch injury inspection at an earthquake scene. The four injured were a young man without breathing and pulse, an old man with an open pneumothorax who could not scream, a crying child with a broken calf, and a middle-aged man with scratched skin. Which one should be dealt with first? The girl chose the person who was not breathing and pulseless. According to the AHA's daily single-person rescue logic, it was correct - the golden 4 minutes of cardiac arrest had the highest priority. However, this question was an assessment question of the Red Cross, which tested the START injury classification. Those who were not breathing and pulseless were directly classified as black marks for rescue in batch rescue scenarios. The highest priority was the red mark injured with open pneumothorax. In the end, the girl was deducted for this question. In fact, the logic on both sides is tenable. AHA's BLS assessment defaults to daily single-injury scenarios, and the most urgent golden rescue time must be grasped. The Red Cross's primary first aid includes disaster mass injury scenarios, and overall rescue efficiency must be taken into consideration. When preparing for the exam, first figure out what the system you are testing focuses on, and don't memorize one answer everywhere.

Oh, and there is another easy-to-get-wrong habit question. Many people are confused about whether to pick the blisters for burns or scalds. No matter which system the answer is, don’t pick the blisters yourself to avoid infection. Go to the hospital and let the doctor handle it. I have seen many people choose "pick the blisters and apply iodine" when answering the question. This is all the inertial thinking left by their own blind handling. They will make mistakes in the first test.

In addition to this controversial issue of scene adaptation, the most common pitfalls are various numerical questions. For example, most people remember the depth of chest compression, which is 5-6cm for adults, but it gets confusing when it comes to children and infants. Some people remember 3cm and others remember 5cm. In fact, it is not wrong to remember "1/3 of the front and back diameter of the chest". The adult chest is thick, so it is 5-6, children are about 4-5, and infants are 4cm. It is much more reliable than rote memorization of numbers. There is also the Heimlich operation. Many people remember "5 abdominal thrusts", but when it comes to pregnant women or severely obese people, you can't hold the belly. You have to stand behind and push the lower half of the sternum, which is similar to the position of chest compression. When I took the AHA instructor training last month, a brother who had been doing first aid for two years came up and held the belly of a simulated pregnant woman. He was directly judged as a failure. I didn't remember the details. It was really a loss.

There is also a type of scenario questions that look simple but actually dig holes. The most typical one is electric shock first aid. I have been asked a real question before: Someone was electrocuted outdoors on a rainy day. His hand was still holding an exposed wire, and there was only a bamboo pole soaked by the rain. What should you do? The options include "use a bamboo pole to pick up the wire", "go straight up and pull the person who got electrocuted", "call for help and find insulation/wait for the electrical personnel to arrive". Many people chose to pick up the wire, forgetting that wet bamboo poles are conductive. This type of question tests whether you have really engraved the principle of "rescuers should protect their own safety first" in your mind, instead of rotely memorizing the sentence "use a dry wooden stick to pick up the wire". There is also the question of whether to control water when drowning. Old first aid textbooks also mention hanging upside down to control water. However, in the past five years, both domestic and international guidelines have made it clear that non-professional rescuers do not need to control water. If cardiac arrest is confirmed, chest compressions can be performed directly. Many older students have memorized old knowledge points and it is easy to lose points here.

To be honest, I have been conducting first aid training for almost 4 years, and I have seen too many students who memorized the question bank and overturned in the practical test. There was a young man who got full marks in the theory test. During the practical test, he knelt down in the "middle of the road" to perform compressions on the simulated man. He didn't even assess whether there were cars in the environment or whether he would be hit, so he was deducted half of his points. In fact, when answering questions, you don’t need to worry about whether the answer is correct. Think more about what you would do if it were really you at the scene. The core logic cannot be escaped: keep yourself safe first, and then save others. Do what can save lives first, and put away non-fatal things later.

Don’t panic when you encounter controversial issues where different opinions vary. For example, whether patients with myocardial infarction should take nitroglycerin immediately. The AHA guidelines say that if the patient has a history of taking nitroglycerin and his blood pressure is not lower than 90/60mmHg, he can take it. The textbooks of the Red Cross are more conservative. It is recommended that non-professionals should not give medicine to the injured casually, and just follow the instructions of the dispatcher after calling 120. For this kind of question, you can follow whichever system you take the test. No one is right or wrong, but the degree of protection for non-professionals is different.

In fact, the first aid exam is not a test of memory, but your judgment of life priorities. If you are not sure about the questions in the exam room, just choose the direction of "don't cause trouble, do no harm, save lives first", and you will most likely not be wrong. Of course, the more important thing is not to return all the knowledge to the teacher after the exam. Dare to get started and master it when you really encounter problems, which is more useful than how many perfect scores you get in the exam.