Whilst the overwhelming majority of motor vehicle collisions do not result in any significant harm, should you be involved in one or witness one there may be a need to put your first aid skills to use.

First and foremost, the emergency services should be called to the scene of any incident which is suspected to have caused injury. Phone EMS (911/999/112) and give them your location, number of vehicles and number of casualties if you know it at this stage. If necessary, further calls can also be made later to update them on the number and seriousness of casualties.

Once this is done and before any action by yourself, it is important to make sure that the area is safe to enter and accessible before attempting to render aid. Directly after an incident is likely to be where emotions are running high and if vehicles travelling at speed are involved a subsequent collision may occur.

Check the following to ensure it is safe to proceed:

• Ensure all traffic or movement has stopped

• Ensure the incident is visible for oncoming or approaching vehicles. Turn on hazard lights if safe to do so;

• Ensure there are no further hazards in the road which would impede your movement (i.e. broken glass, mirrors or parts of cars or bikes).

If it is not possible to secure the safety of anyone approaching the scene, then do not approach the scene until this is possible. Further injury can be avoided with care and attention.

Triage the scene.

Quickly scan the area to assess the occupants of all the vehicles, bikes, horses or pedestrians involved. Get someone to check how many people were in each vehicle or on each bike and check the numbers correlate with the people you have on the scene. Injured people have been known to wander away or may be trapped in or thrown from a vehicle and not immediately obvious. Ensure any animals are secured and safe.

Initial ‘primary’ survey of a casualty – Once you have safely approached the vehicles or injured person, carry out a modified primary survey (control severe bleeding, Airway is clear, breathing is regular and quiet, circulation is intact). If they are not breathing, start CPR. Get others to help you with this.

Prioritising and dealing with injuries – Given the nature of road traffic incidents, several injuries could have occurred. Keep calm and be methodical in your assessment. Assess the situation carefully and prioritise the casualties who are quiet or not moving. Check their airway, breathing and for any major injuries. If they’re breathing, put them in the recovery position if possible and safe to do so given their position. Get someone to help maintain the airway of the casualty while you check other casualties. Screaming, noisy or walking wounded are all breathing but may deteriorate. Get them to sit down in a safe place, preferably together, and give them the kit or the first aid treatment required. Check for first aid kits in other vehicles that you can use or share.

Trapped casualties – the vehicle may be inaccessible, a person trapped within it or incapable of moving. Leave any trapped casualties for the professionals to deal with. Be especially careful about moving any casualty. Common advice is that you should only attempt to remove an unconscious person from their vehicle if there is an immediate danger to their life. Read the situation carefully. If they are trapped and having difficulty breathing, lift their head gently and support them at their chin to give them an airway and give them lots of reassurance. Get another person to hold their head in position while you check other casualties.

Get others to help – Get bystanders or walking wounded to help you. They can sit with a casualty and reassure them, deal with minor injuries, and treat their minor injuries if you give them the bandages or other kit required. They can act as a lookout for the emergency services arriving. Lesser cuts and injuries may be dealt with at the scene with the appropriate first aid equipment.

Keep circulating – Move between the casualties checking, monitoring and reassuring them – and thanking your helpers.

Brief the emergency services when they arrive. Tell them how many casualties, where they are, what you’ve done then let them take over. Hand over any monitoring cards you have been using.

Look after yourself – don’t put yourself in any danger with risks to your health or aggressive people at the scene. Keep calm and remember your training. Have some time to yourself after the incident and speak to someone if you have worries or concerns.

What should I have in my vehicle first aid kit?

When buying a first aid kit, always check your kit when you receive it, learn what is in there and what it is for by checking the contents list. You should also get to know where the components are within the many compartments. Check the scissors, tape and bandages are fit for purpose. Outdoor roadside first aid requires more robust equipment as you may need to cut clothing or have bigger and more numerous bleeds to deal with.

Remember other vehicles may have first aid kits in them that you could also use.

A typical vehicle first aid kit should include:

First aid contents list – check it and ensure you know what everything is for. Check it’s all in date too.

• Nitrile gloves and a CPR face shield.

• Tuff-kut or medi-scissors – you may need to cut through clothing

• Medi-wipes or clean water to clean wounds

• Triangular bandages

• Sterile adhesive dressings – flat sheets of sterile material to go over wounds and to be secured by other triangular or plain bandages

• A range of trauma or large dressings – small, medium and large. These are the rolled bandage types with a sterile dressing for the wound.

• Haemostatic bandages for catastrophic bleeds. Find out more about them here.

• Burn dressings.

• Eye pads

• Safety pins

• Good tape – electrical tape or zinc oxide tape

• A whistle with a lanyard

• Foil blankets to keep casualties warm

• Warning triangle and/or flashing light for the vehicle

• A hi-viz vest or two for you and any helpers

• Head torches for use at night – avoid shining them into a casualty’s face though.

• A casualty monitoring card and pencil. You can download our FREE monitoring card here.

Get confident – get trained!

We cover primary surveys and treatment of casualties, major incidents and how to respond to them on our First Aid courses. You can find out more about our courses here.