General procedure for domestic emergencies

The same procedure should always be followed for emergencies occurring at home. Although the actions vary from disease to disease, certain initial measures should be taken in each emergency. An emergency physician should always be contacted by calling 112.

The called person will always ask the same questions, for which one can prepare oneself briefly before the call. One should be able to say what happened, where it happened and how many are involved. The description should be limited to short, concise statements in order not to lose time unnecessarily.

In any case, it is important not to forget the address and the place of residence. If the information is not complete and you hang up the phone immediately, no ambulance can come. During the whole situation you should keep calm and also speak calmly to the injured person.Vital signs should be monitored regularly.

These include the pulse and respiration. If one or both of these are no longer present, resuscitation must be started. If breathing is present and pulse is palpable, but the patient is unconscious, the patient should be placed in a stable lateral position to prevent the tongue from obstructing the airways.

Vital signs should also be checked in the event of burns, scalds or cuts. Before the emergency doctor arrives, the front door should be unlocked and a second aide should be assigned to receive the ambulance on the street. Usually only children are affected by this type of domestic emergency.

However, with up to 4500 children in Germany per year, this is a relatively frequent domestic accident. Causes are mostly unsupervised children, who mostly play at the garden pond, fall in and disappear under water without their parents noticing anything. Often a lot of time passes until the parents inspect the garden pond in search of the children.

The child must be pulled out of the water immediately and the vital parameters checked. This includes checking breathing and heartbeat. Appropriate resuscitation measures must be initiated immediately. An emergency doctor must be called immediately. If a resuscitation of the child occurs, the patient is always admitted to a hospital for monitoring.