Marine First Aid Level 4 (VTQ)
Course Content
- Course Introduction
- Human anatomy and physiology for immediate emergency care
- Safety and Calling for Help
- What3Words - location app
- Marine band radios
- Marine VHF Radios
- Common Coastal Water Dangers
- Common Fresh Water Marine Dangers
- Emergency Flares
- LED Flares
- The Coastguard
- The Air Ambulance
- Personal Location Beacons
- Accident Prevention
- Boat Safety
- Calling for help
- Water safety tubes
- Types of Blankets
- Emergency response for hybrid and electric boats
- First Aid and Safety Equipment\
- Initial Assessment and Care
- Basic airway management in emergency care
- CPR
- AED
- Administration of oxygen therapy
- Drowning
- Choking
- Shock
- Bleeding
- Catastrophic Injury
- Injuries
- Hypothermia
- Illness
- FIrst Responder - Management of injuries
- Prioritising first aid
- Pelvic Injuries
- Spinal Injuries
- Rapid Extrication
- SAM Pelvic Sling
- Box Splints
- Spinal Injury
- Stabilising the spine
- Spinal Recovery Position
- Introduction to Spinal Boards
- The spinal board
- Using the Spinal Board
- The Scoop Stretcher
- Using the scoop stretcher
- Cervical collars
- Vertical C-Spine Immobilisation
- Joint examination
- Adult fractures
- Types of fracture
- First Responder - Management of trauma
- Elevated Slings
- Lower limb immobilisation
- Elevation Techniques
- Helmet Removal
- Different Types of Helmets
- The Carry Chair
- Applying Plasters
- Strains and Sprains and the RICE procedure
- Eye Injuries
- Electrical Injuries
- Foreign objects in the eye, ears or nose
- Nose bleeds
- Bites and stings
- Chest Injuries
- Foxseal chest seals
- Abdominal Injuries
- Treating Snake Bites
- Types of head injury and consciousness
- Dislocated Shoulders and Joints
- Other Types of Injury
- Dental Injuries
- First Responder - Management of medical conditions
- Asthma
- Asthma Spacers
- When an Asthma inhaler is not available
- Accuhaler®
- Heart Attack
- Warning signs of cardiac arrest and heart attack
- Heart Attack Position
- Aspirin and the Aspod
- Stable angina
- Hypertension
- Pulse Oximetry
- Epilepsy
- Epilepsy treatment
- Meningitis
- Diabetes
- Blood Sugar Testing
- Poisons and Food Poisoning
- Shock
- Near and secondary drowning
- Cold water shock
- Allergic Reactions and Anaphylaxis
- Course Summary
Need a certification?
Get certified in Marine First Aid Level 4 (VTQ) for just £49.95 + VAT.
Get StartedPeak Flow
Unlock This Video Now for FREE
This video is normally available to paying customers.
You may unlock this video for FREE. Enter your email address for instant access AND to receive ongoing updates and special discounts related to this topic.
Now we are going to have a look at the peak flow meter, an important tool in our kit bag in measuring the volume and effectiveness of somebody's lung capacity and the way they are breathing. It is most commonly used with patients with aspro bronchitis and emphysema or people who are covered by COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a reduction in the way the lung works and the efficiency of the lung. The meter itself has a mouthpiece where the air enters the airway measuring system. There's a scale on the outside which measures the amount of air that we blow into the unit itself. It also has two different types of mouthpieces. The most common one used is the one-use cardboard tube that is disposable and they also come with a clean sterile reusable mouthpiece. These tend to be the ones that we don't use very often for contamination purposes. The most common is the cardboard roll. The cardboard roll itself pushes into the end of the airway, peak flow meter, the patient then must make a seal around the cardboard tube. One or two little problems that we have with this is to get a good flow, the patient's tongue and teeth need to be clear of the actual inlet valve. They need to take then a deep breathing, as deep as they possibly can, and in one short blow, they fast empty their lungs into the meter and the needle and the register will raise to give you a measure of the capacity and the force the air has left the lungs. This must be repeated three times and we take the highest score of the three tests to give us the level and capacity of the lung of the patient. We need this as a baseline obs or a baseline set of observations to tell us how effective our treatment is. Once we have administered drugs or nebulisation, their lung capacity should improve. The only way we can find that out is by taking an initial reading than doing the tests giving the drugs. Once the drugs get into the system, we repeat the three blows and measure again after treatment and we should have an improvement in the capacity of the lungs. This gives us some idea that the treatment is working and we can evidence that on our patients report forms. They need to do the three blows before but it is not absolutely crucial. If you encounter a patient that has a very, very severe breathing problem, do not waste time taking peak flow readings. If they are not capable of doing the peak flow reading because their breathing is in too much distress, treat the patient first, look after the patients best interest, and write on your patients report form that the patient was too ill or the breathing was too bad to perform a peak flow reading. Once their breathing has improved, you then complete your peak flow reading and you then document that they were unable to complete the peak flow at the start. But after treatment, they did a complete review of their lung capacity and the reading was whatever found on the meter. So we don't have to use it, but it's beneficial to use it where we can.
Peak Flow Meter: A Vital Tool for Lung Assessment
Introduction
The peak flow meter is an essential device in our medical kit, allowing us to measure lung capacity and assess breathing effectiveness.
Common Uses
The peak flow meter is frequently employed with patients experiencing conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, lymphedema, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Components
The meter comprises a **mouthpiece** for air entry into the airway measuring system, alongside an external **scale** measuring the blown air volume.
There are two types of mouthpieces available: a disposable cardboard tube, and a clean, sterile, reusable mouthpiece, with the former being more commonly used for contamination control.
Procedure
When using the peak flow meter, the patient must create a seal around the cardboard tube, ensuring their tongue and teeth do not obstruct the inlet valve.
The patient then takes a deep breath and exhales forcefully into the meter, with the needle registering the lung capacity and force.
This process is repeated three times, with the highest score of the three tests recorded as the baseline lung capacity.
Monitoring and Treatment
The baseline lung capacity serves as a reference for monitoring treatment effectiveness. After administering medication or nebulization, the peak flow readings should show improvement.
In cases of severe breathing distress, immediate treatment takes priority over peak flow readings. Once the patient's condition stabilizes, the readings can be performed and documented.