Why should you check for danger before you give first aid

The first thing we r taught (I am a EMT) is ''is the scene safe'' in any situation where someone needs help YOU r the most important person. You as the person providing aid r the most important. You wo not be any good to the hurt person if u get hurt yourself! I can give u lots of trauma scenarios where scene safety is important, but remember it can also be important in a ''medical'' call. For example, if u r giving first aid to a person who needs CPR & they were swiming, u need to make sure the area u work in is dry, because if u use the AED u yourself can get shocked.
Here r a few other instances some from personal experience that require good scene safety.
- anytime a gun is involved, or a domestic violence call. If there was a shooter that shot someone than ran away, chances r he could be just around the corner & as soon as someone tries to help the person, he will shoot them also. We r taught as medics, to not even arrive on a scene UNTIL the shooter is arrested!

-Suicide (attempted suicide), if u think someone is gonna kill themself than they r already unstable, & scared, if u go running into the house that could be all it takes for them to pull the trigger, at u or themselves.

- If a house looks weird proceed with caution, we have alot of meth in our area, & when these people r high they get bored, & paranoid. We have actually seen houses where they take fishing line & attach fish hooks & hang them from the celing all over the house, imagine running into a house to save a life & getting ooked like that! Also these people can have needles on them.

- Of course trauma calls, fires, car accidents, coal mine accidents, they all pose risks of a first aid provider getting hurt.

Remember just because a scene is safe to enter does NOT mean it will stay safe, u need to be constantly aware of ur surroundings! I had a young man in a car accident once & he was very corropertive, I got him in the ambulance & was checking his legs & feet & he went NUTS, actually punched me, we got him restrained & when I took off his shoes there was meth & a needle in his sock!
When u see someone that needs help it is hard to not just go running to the rescue, BUT u r the most important person at that point & ur safety is number 1

Cause..Example: A guy ran out of a house on fire,and you are helping him,but while you do it,the fire gets close to you and you get burned.It ends up getting you both to the hospital,but if you are careful and check for danger,you get him away from the fire and you give him the first aid and then he will be safe for the rest of hes life.

who knows

Think about it.

If you do not check for oncoming vehicles after a car accident, you could be injured helping people.

Or, if you touch someone who has been electrocuted, you too could be shocked.

First aid is usually required because people have been involved in dangerous situations. Just because you are helping someone with first aid does not make you immune to the same problems.