A medical emergency can occur without warning anywhere, anytime. Educating yourself on the basic measures to apply during an emergency can help save a life.
Nothing can fully prepare you when tragedy strikes, but there are a few steps you can either take before, or try to remember when you find yourself in such a situation.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Stay calm
This sounds like the most obvious of them all, but staying calm can help you make better decisions.
If you’re able to, take a second to breathe deeply to clear your head and calm your mind. Secondly, assess the situation and ensure that you and any other people are out of harm’s way. Making rash decisions can put both you and, for example, the person with the injury, at risk of further harm.
Contact emergency medical services (EMS) as soon as possible
Don’t hesitate. Contact EMS even if it may seem that everything is under control. Rather contact EMS to find that the emergency wasn’t dire than regret not calling the emergency ambulance and have the situation worsen.
GetSavvi Health members: Contact our Emergency Services on 0860 35 83 33, South Africa’s leading emergency ambulance services provider.
Ensure that you always keep the emergency number (0860 35 83 33) at hand.
Learn CPR
If you have time, familiarise yourself with the correct steps that need to be taken when doing CPR. You can read up on CPR procedure or even take a short course.
By simply doing chest compressions, you’ll be able to buy some time until EMS arrive.
Have your medical insurance card close by
Be sure to always have your GetSavvi Health membership card at hand.
In the unfortunate event of an accident where you’re unable to communicate, then your membership card can provide emergency services with important information.
This will not only assist emergency personnel in getting your identification, but may factor in when they choose which facility they need to take you to.
Please note that this does not guarantee that emergency services will take you to the closest private hospital. They reserve the right to make a choice after assessing the seriousness of your injuries.
TOP TIP! Add “In Case of Emergency’ (ICE) details on your smartphone
In the case of a medical emergency, it’s important to have your personal details such as next of kin, blood type, allergies and medical information close by. This information can be saved under ICE on your smartphone.
Modern technology allows this information to always be on hand. Click here to find out how to save your ICE information on most popular smarthpone brands, including iOS.
Get peace of mind with GetSavvi Health
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