Understand Priorities and Response in dealing with Incidents and Emergencies
Understand Priorities and Response in dealing with Incidents and Emergencies
Unit: 3
Task: 4
Anjum Aziz
Any incident that occurs must be reported in the correct way. For example, accidents must be recorded in the accident book with the time, date, nameof the person involved and a description of the accident. If there was an injury it must be described and the treatment given must be recorded.
The possible priorities and responses when dealing with incidents and emergencies such as an accidents and exposure of infection or chemicals can lead to death or serious injury. It is important to ensure the safety of people, property and environment, review of policies and procedures following critical incidents, implementing improvements for the future.
If there is an accident, make sure that you keep everyone away from the place,shout for help and ask someone to who know the role of first aider. First aider will have certain qualities and skills which are very valuable and help you to deal with these situations. The principles of first aid are:
> To preserve life
> To limit the effect of the condition
> To promote recovery
They need to check theA (Airway) B (Breathing) C (Circulation):
* Keep safe, check for danger before approaching
* Check casualty's response "hello can you hear me?"
* Make sure the person's airway is open by leaning their head and lifting their chin
* Check for normal breathing
* If breathing normally, check circulation, then place casualty in recovery position, get help and check for continued breathing
* Place one hand on the forehead and gently lean the head back and lift the chin
* Pinch the person's nose, place your mouth over their mouth and, by puffinglittle by little, give two rescues breaths, each over on second.
Giving chest compression
> Find the place where the ribs meet the breastbone, and lay two fingers there.
> Put the heel of your other hand on their breastbone, just above where your two fingers are.
> Put your first hand on top of this hand, locking your fingers together - as shown.
> Keeping your shoulders above the centre of the person's chest and your arms straight, press down on their chest by about 4 to 5 cm
> Release the pressure, but keep your hands where they are. This is a chest compression.
> Do 15 chest compressions in just under 10 seconds.
> Give two breaths of mouth-to-mouth.
> Continue to give 15 compressions followed by two breaths of mouth-to-mouth, until help arrives
Put them into the recovery positions:
> Place arm nearest you at a right angle, with palm facing up,
> Move other arm, palm upwards, against the person's cheek. Then get hold of the knee furthest from you and pull up until foot is flat on the floor
> Pull he knee towards you, keeping the person's hand pressed against their cheek, and position the leg at a right angle.
> Make sure the airway remains open by leaning the head back and lifting the chin, check breathing
> Dial 999 and ask for an ambulance
> Monitor the casualty's condition until help arrives
Beside the first aid they will also have RIDDOR requirement. The manager checks the following any accidents, incidents they should be carried out or reported to the HSE.
To control the hazard we need to make sure that we carry out a risk assessment. The risk assessment is the procedure to minimize the accidents and it has common steps to do which are:
• Identify the hazards.
• Identify possible consequences based on who is at the risk might be harmed and how.
• Evaluate the risks/ chance that hazard will cause harm.
• Record your control measures e.g. equipment and written report
• Review your risk assessment.
It is important to review the policies and procedures before and afterwards and see if everything worked. If not what can put in place such as if staffs are not trained well then manger has a responsibly to provide training. And remember that when dealing with individuals, risk assessment and evaluation is an on-going process. We need to re-evaluate the risk. The Health and Safety at Work Act ...
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• Evaluate the risks/ chance that hazard will cause harm.
• Record your control measures e.g. equipment and written report
• Review your risk assessment.
It is important to review the policies and procedures before and afterwards and see if everything worked. If not what can put in place such as if staffs are not trained well then manger has a responsibly to provide training. And remember that when dealing with individuals, risk assessment and evaluation is an on-going process. We need to re-evaluate the risk. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 legislation provide assessed and implemented to prevent an accident occurring. How can we improve?
It is very important to consider the important of maintaining confidentiality, with their name, address and all the records such as date and time and what was the injury.Also is it essential to maintaining respect and dignity of service user or any other client. It is responsibility for every staff to minimise the risk, provide an accessing support for the incident or emergency for example role of first aider.
The case study
Mr Smith is 65 years old and lives in old home and his sight is weak he can't see properly. He was walking in the home for physical exercise.Near the dining table he dropped his glasses, he bend over to pick his glasses up. He banged his head on the corner of dining table and fall down, his head was bleeding. I saw him lying on the floor. My first priority would be assess the casualty, I went to him and looked around him is there is any things which could harm me or Mr Smith If I move him, but there wasn't anythingI asked him "can u hear me?" he said "yeah " and I asked r u ok? He didn't sayanything then. In my priority I will shout for help because I can't deal with the situation alone. I didn't do it alone because the consequences will be that I could injury him or myself. I shouted for help so other staff can come and help me.I started doing First Aid procedure, to clean the blood. It would be my priority to care and treat the casualty's emotions because they might don't know what we are doing with him. In all those priority, the important one is Health and Safety, and prevent from infections. I will use personal protective equipment, such as gloves and apron. PPE will help to prevent spreading of infection. If I didn't use PPE the consequences would be spreading infections form his blood. After dealing with blood I will make sure that I dispose gloves and apron in appropriate way. I checked his airway is clear and he was breathing, his circulating was ok then place him in recovery position.The other staff will be making sure that other service users stay back for Mr Smith privacy. I will get help for 999,call for an ambulance and check for continued breathing while an ambulance arrives.Theother priority would be dealing them other residents make sure they are secure and not upset and also promoting the dignity of the person who had an accident. When ambulance arrives, hand over to the ambulance crew and tell then, what happen, what we done. The date and time was recorded and cause of hazard on the hazard book. After that Mr Smith was taken into the hospital and one of the staff went with him in the hospital and also his family was informed and they going to meet in hospital. Next priority would be filling in the accident record book, we have to write down, what has been done and what medication has been given to him. Therisk assessment was carrying out under RIDDOR legislation and they looked for the hazard, which was table corner. The cleaner will clean the area with anti- biotic detergent, if the area isn't clean up then the consequences would be spreading the Bacteria. The manager will investigate to see, how does it happen and what can be put in place to prevent form more incidents.They have to change the tables, and after few weeks they may review the record book if there was any other accidents occur. If not, it's ok. But if there was an accident they will check it again the cause and what has been put in place for the improvementin the future. If they don't improve the consequences would be that they are putting their self and others at the risk.
Exposure to Infection and Chemicals
It is very important to protect your self and other against infection and make sure that the area is safe and clean where you are cooking, or using any chemical.
To protect people from exposure to infection or chemicals we need to make sure that we stop infection from spreading because it can be a risk of death. It is very important to wash hand before and after going to the toilet, eating food, after contact with blood or body fluids, touching animals and pets, and touching raw meat. To prevent infections make surethat you cover nose and mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing. Every time you cook something in the kitchen always clean as you go and wash surface down with hot water and detergent because it will kill the Bactria. In the care setting it is responsibility of the staff to provide correct PPE which contains aprons, masks, gloves, goggles, hat to cover hair. If any staff has any illness such as nose, skin or throat infections and sickness or diarrhoea they avoid preparing food because it could also spread infection.Make sure that staff checksthe expiry dates of everything in the fridge and in the cupboard because it can cause food poisoning.
There is legislation for food safety. Food Safety Act 1990 was designed to ensure that every individual is following good food hygiene, so no one has a health on risk. It also aim the law is that food should be prepared in clean hygiene and correct standard. Employers need to make sure that the food they are cooking its fresh and well washed before cooking because it will kill the bacteria in the food. Kitchen need to be kept clean and tidy, especially all the surfaces. Food should be kept at the right temperature and also need to be cooked over 75oC or over. Employers need to make sure that raw food and vegetable are kept separately. Always need to wash their hands, try to use liquid soap and use paper towels or hand dryer. While handling food never put hands near hair and mouth because bacteria on nose, mouth and on hair can be spread by the food and cause illness.
Food needs to be prepared in separate areas using colour coded chopping bored and knifes. There are different colours of chopping boards and knives so that raw food and other food are not used on just one. The colours are
• Red = Raw meat
• Blue raw fish
• Yellow = cooked meat
• Green = salad/ fruit
• Brown = vegetable
• White =dairy baking
To ensure that all the service user are having good food and kitchen are clean and tidy Health and Safety Executive come for a spot check it means that unplanned visit can be occur by health inspector. If there is a problem Health and Safety Executive gives advice and guidance to reduce risks. They do another spot check; if things are still the same they prohibition means that they give closure notice or stop the company.
Cookers who are ill could pass a disease to other. If they are sick they must stay away from work until all infections have been removed.
Mice and rats carry bacteria and pass it on food or work surfaces. Mice have weak bladders and urinate on food. Some birds also carry bacteria. Food can be dirty by dropping and feathers of the bird. If someone has seen mouse dropping in the cupboard they need to tell someone and they have to close the mini doors for mouse.
Uncooked food contains lots of Bactria, make sure you cook it well so all the Bactria dies. Make sure that food is cooked on right temperature because this can cause food poisoning. While you are in the kitchen make sure you wash your hands properly, after washing your hand never touch your hair or nose, to prevent physical contamination
All the chemicals such as bleach and other washing powders, washing liquids should be kept in a safe area out of vulnerable adults and children.
For the entire of chemical they should have a written a risk assignment and it should be kept in safe place. While staff are in contact with chemicals they should wear appropriate personal protective equipment such as aprons and masks, aprons and gloves will be providing free of cost if someone needs. Chemical shouldn't be removed from the container that supplied by the company.
All the detail should be kept save and secure;
Where they are kept
How they are labelled
What the effects are
How to deal with an emergency involving the substance
Also check their expiry dates and if they are out of date they should be disposed of in a correctmanner. The manger should have a written assignment of the potential risks harmful substances, so if Health and Safety Executive can request to see it.
Employers are responsible for taking effective measures to control exposures to biological hazards, chemicals and hazardous substances and to protect workers' health. If someone is a cleaner in the setting, they will have a responsibility to clean all the rooms and toilets. They will have a trolley where they put all the equipment's, which includes cleaning materials. After using all the equipment's they need to put them in the locked cupboard.
Same as with medication, they need to be in the lock cupboard. The employer need to make sure they don't left anything on the shelf, where vulnerable adults and children can reach easily. Employee must ensure they report any dangerous situations to the employer immediately.
Make sure staff dispose sharp needles correctly, because they can also cause infections such as Aids and HIV.
In the setting twenty five people were served the food and after about two hour'speople start vomiting and they had abdominal pain. This may be because any food prepared by someone who did not wash their hands properly or any food prepared using unclean cooking utensils, cutting boards, or other tools, and undercooked meats or eggs can also reason for food poisoning. The manager found out that some of the food was left over from yesterday, which caused them vomiting and diarrhea. They have to report into the book of RIDDOR because it is important make sure that next time it doesn't happen. Every work place should have a document for any accidents that happen in the workplace and also all the information such as Date, time, witness and what treatment did they got, Most important thing that what was done to reduce the hazard. They need to keep the entire record safe and secure because Health and Safety Inspector can come any time for a spot- check they might ask you to show the record. All the actions that were taken are to make sure that everyone is safe and out of all the potential hazards.
If there is an outbreak of infectious in the old home, all those vulnerable people are at the high risk of having infection because their immune system is very weak they can't fight with it. So it is very important that the individual has an infection, they should be isolate nursing, mean they should be moved into different room so infection won't spread. The other ways to stop it spreading is staff should use Personal Protective Equipment's (PPE), such as apron, gloves, and masks etc. The staff should wash their hands by using the correct procedure. They should wash before and after going to different service user and take their gloves and aprons off. If they won't wear PPE the consequences would negative because they will be spreading infections around.
If someone had an accident in the setting and they are full of blood staff should wear gloves, aprons and masks it will also help to prevent infections. When the person has been removed from the area, on-one should be allowed to go there. The surface should be clean with detergent.
There are other ways which infection can be spread. The washing hands will prevent yourself and others from infection. It is important you should wash your hands properly by using an anti-precipitant deodorant specially after using the toilet and before touching the food. Care workers need to wear gloves and clean clothes, nails should be clean and short, clean the surface with anti-biotic wipe or spray where you are going to cut the food. While they are cutting or cooking food you shouldn't rub your face, or fiddle with their hair and pick spots because they are also covered with Bactria and it will cause infections. Kitchen is main area where care worker need to be more care full Bactria. Knives and cutting boards can be dirty with bacteria from raw food. It is essential to wash hands and equipment properly to reduce the chance of food becoming dirty with bacteria.
It is legal duty to protect clients against infections and the risk of cross- infection in health and social care setting is high because of the vulnerability of clients. Maintaining a high level of personal hygiene will help to reduce the chance of developing infection. The full environment should be clean and out of danger. In the setting all the hand rails should be kept clean and free from Bactria. The floors need to be free of dust, grit, litter and chewing gums etc.
If there is any body fluid on the floor it should be clean with detergent as soon as possible by wearing correct PPE. It will help you to stop spreading bacterial infection.
Reference
Ayling P (2007) Infection Prevention and control, Knowledge set. Oxford. Heinemann.
N.Mooine, K.C Pensley, B.Strath, C.Price (2000), Health and Safety Care (Intermediate GNCE), Heinemann Education Publisher
Class notes = Jane(December, 15, 2011)
The employer's duty of care in practice. Retrieved December28, 2011 [online] http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_4016686
Health and Safety Executive. Retrieved December, 28, 2011 [online] www.hse.gov.uk
What to do in an emergency. Retrieved December, 28, 2011 [online] http://www.nedac.co.uk/Emergency.htm