Collision Procedures and First Aid

First on the scene

Nobody plans to come across a road collision, but any driver may, and knowing what to do can save a life and keep everyone safer. The key is to stay calm and act in a set order rather than rushing in. First you protect the scene so that no one else is hurt, then you summon the emergency services, and only then do you help any casualties, always putting your own safety and theirs first. This module covers the whole procedure: the safety equipment a sensible driver carries, the legal duties a driver has after a collision, the ordered steps to take at the scene, and the principles of first aid, including how to check a casualty and the recovery position. It is a calm, practical guide to a difficult moment. It does not replace a proper first-aid course, but it gives you the knowledge the exam expects.

Collision and first aid words

Learn these terms before the equipment is matched up. They name the ideas used in this topic.

Match each item to what it is for

Helping safely against making it worse

A well-meaning helper can do harm as well as good, so it helps to know the safe way to act.

What do you do next?

You are first to arrive at a collision. You have made the scene safe with hazard lights and a warning triangle. What should you do next?

• Call the emergency services and give a clear location
• Pull every casualty out of the vehicles at once
• Take photographs for social media
• Drive off to avoid getting involved

Make the scene safe first

The single most important rule at a collision is to protect the scene before you do anything else, because a second crash into the wreckage helps no one and puts you in danger too. Switch on hazard lights, and if it is safe set a warning triangle well back up the road so other drivers slow in time. Keep yourself and any bystanders out of moving traffic, and switch off engines if you safely can to reduce the risk of fire. Only when the area is as safe as you can make it should you turn to the people involved. Then call the emergency services, giving the exact location, the number of vehicles and how many people seem hurt, and do not hang up until told to. Staying calm and working in this order is what keeps a bad situation from becoming worse.

Pick the equipment to carry in a car

Select every item it is sensible to carry in a car for an emergency.

• A first aid kit
• A warning triangle
• A reflective jacket
• A spare television
• A sack of garden sand

Order what to do at a collision

Put the actions to take when you come upon a collision into the correct order.

• Make the scene safe with lights and a warning triangle
• Check for danger to yourself and others
• Call the emergency services with the location
• Check casualties in the order of priorities
• Give first aid until help arrives

Complete the first aid facts

When checking a casualty, the first priority is whether they are _____. The next priority is to control any serious _____. A casualty who turns pale, cold and clammy with a fast pulse may be going into _____. An unconscious casualty who is breathing should be placed gently in the _____ position.

Tap the two first aid priorities

When you reach a casualty, some checks matter far more than others. Tap the TWO that are first aid priorities.

• checking that they are breathing
• controlling serious bleeding
• checking the paintwork of the car
• counting the wheels on the vehicle

Working through a checklist

When something goes wrong in the air, a pilot does not freeze or guess. They reach for a checklist and work through it calmly, step by step, in the order that matters most, because in a crisis a clear head following a set routine saves lives where panic costs them. Responding to a collision asks for the same discipline. It is frightening, and the temptation is to rush straight to the most badly hurt person, but the trained response is an ordered one: make it safe, call for help, then check each casualty in a fixed order of priorities. You do not have to remember everything or be a doctor. You just have to stay calm and follow the steps in turn, exactly like the pilot with the checklist, and you will do far more good than someone who means well but acts in a panic.

The first aid run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Respond to the collision

Read each situation and choose the best response.

• You arrive at a collision on a fast road. What is the very first thing to do?
• A casualty is unconscious but breathing and not in danger where they are. What do you do?
• A casualty has a serious wound that is bleeding heavily. What is the priority?

Build a first aid point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about collision first aid.

Explain what to do at a collision

A friend has just passed their driving test and asks what they should do if they come across a collision. Using what you have learned, explain it calmly.

• Explain how to make the scene safe
• Explain what to tell the emergency services when you call
• Explain the order of priorities when checking a casualty
• Explain when it is right to move a casualty and when it is not
• Explain what the recovery position is for