What is the recovery position for?

It keeps the airway open and lets vomit drain rather than being inhaled, in someone who is unresponsive but breathing normally. Roll them onto their side, head tilted back, and keep checking they are still breathing.

When should I call an ambulance rather than drive?

For anything involving breathing, chest pain, unresponsiveness, suspected stroke, a seizure that will not stop, severe bleeding or a suspected spinal injury. Paramedics start treatment on arrival and take the person to the right facility, not just the nearest.

What should I say when I call?

Where you are, as precisely as possible, then what has happened, how many people are hurt, whether they are conscious and breathing, and your phone number. Stay on the line — they will talk you through what to do.

Health library

Staying safe

First aid – the handful of things everyone should know

Most first aid is remembering a small number of things in the right order. The ones that change outcomes, and the outdated advice to drop.

The order that applies to everything

Danger — make sure the scene is safe for you first. A second casualty helps nobody.
Response — shout and gently shake the shoulders.
Shout for help, and get an ambulance called. Point at a specific person and give them the job.
Airway — tilt the head back and lift the chin.
Breathing — look, listen and feel for up to ten seconds. Occasional gasps are not normal breathing.
If not breathing normally, start CPR. If breathing but unresponsive, put them in the recovery position on their side.
Then deal with bleeding, burns and everything else.

Severe bleeding

Firm, direct pressure on the wound with whatever clean material is available. Pressure is what stops bleeding, not the dressing.
Keep pressing without lifting to check. Add more material on top if it soaks through rather than removing it.
Raise the limb above the heart if you can.
Do not remove an embedded object — pad around it and press either side.
Lay them down and keep them warm.
A tourniquet is a last resort for catastrophic limb bleeding that pressure will not stop. Note the time it was applied and tell the paramedics.

The advice to drop

Butter, toothpaste or oil on a burn — cool running water for twenty minutes instead.
Ice directly on a burn or a snakebite — it deepens tissue damage.
A tourniquet for snakebite — never. It costs limbs.
Cutting or sucking a snakebite — useless and harmful.
Tilting the head back for a nosebleed — lean forward instead, and pinch the soft part for ten unbroken minutes.
Putting something in the mouth of someone having a seizure — never. Protect the head, time it, and turn them on their side afterwards.
Moving someone with a suspected spinal injury unless they are in immediate danger.
Breathing into a paper bag for hyperventilation — slow the out-breath instead.

A kit worth having

Sterile dressings in a few sizes, and a couple of large ones for heavy bleeding.
Bandages, adhesive plasters and micropore tape.
Disposable gloves.
Blunt-ended scissors and fine tweezers.
Antiseptic solution, and a saline pod for rinsing eyes and wounds.
Paracetamol, an antihistamine, and oral rehydration sachets.
A thermometer and a torch.
A written list of household members' medicines, conditions and allergies.
An adrenaline auto-injector if anyone in the household has been prescribed one — and everyone should know where it is and how to use it.

Worth keeping at home:

Paracetamol — Panado, Painamol, Tylenol, Pacimol
Mild to moderate pain; fever
Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) — Rehidrat, ORS sachets, Dioralyte, Electrolit
Dehydration due to diarrhoea or vomiting
Cetirizine — Zyrtec, Texa, Adco-Cetirizine, Allerclear
Allergic rhinitis; urticaria; allergic conjunctivitis
Antiseptic Cream (Chlorhexidine/Cetrimide) — Germolene, Dettol Antiseptic Cream, Savlon Cream, Burnshield
Minor cuts; scrapes; grazes; minor burns; insect bites; wound cleaning
Adrenaline (Epinephrine) Auto-injector — EpiPen, Jext
Anaphylaxis (emergency treatment)

Reading about this is not the same as doing it. A short in-person first aid course is genuinely worth a day, and the practical part — how hard to push, how firm the pressure needs to be — cannot be learned from a page.

Common questions

What is the recovery position for?: It keeps the airway open and lets vomit drain rather than being inhaled, in someone who is unresponsive but breathing normally. Roll them onto their side, head tilted back, and keep checking they are still breathing.
When should I call an ambulance rather than drive?: For anything involving breathing, chest pain, unresponsiveness, suspected stroke, a seizure that will not stop, severe bleeding or a suspected spinal injury. Paramedics start treatment on arrival and take the person to the right facility, not just the nearest.
What should I say when I call?: Where you are, as precisely as possible, then what has happened, how many people are hurt, whether they are conscious and breathing, and your phone number. Stay on the line — they will talk you through what to do.

Sources

Basic life support and resuscitation guidelinesResuscitation Council of Southern Africa
Primary Healthcare Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines ListNational Department of Health, South Africa

Last reviewed 4 August 2026.