How should you secure a conscious victim who has suffered a head injury as a consequence of an accident?
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Correct answer
B. Place the victim in a half-sitting position, apply a sterile gauze dressing on the wound and calm the victim down.
Explanation
In the photo paramedics and firefighters are taking care of a casualty lying on the ground, next to a stretcher that has been prepared. You place a conscious casualty with a bleeding head injury in a half-sitting position, put a sterile gauze dressing on the wound and calm them down - answer B.
The Road Traffic Act requires a person involved in an accident to give the necessary help to the victims and to call the emergency medical team. The casualty is conscious, so they keep their airway open themselves - the recovery position (answer C) is for unconscious people, and leaving the wound without a dressing lets it bleed and get dirty. The half-sitting position, with the back supported, reduces the flow of blood to the head and weakens the bleeding, and at the same time the casualty can see what is happening and is easier to calm down; lying flat (answer A) increases bleeding from the head. You cover the wound with sterile gauze and bandage it lightly - without strong pressure, because there may be a broken skull bone under the wound. You talk to them calmly, watch whether they are losing consciousness or vomiting, do not give them anything to drink and wait for the ambulance, because every head injury needs a medical examination.
Legal basis: Art. 44 para. 2 point 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym); Art. 162 § 1 of the Criminal Code