First Aid & Medical Emergencies Toolbox Talk

A free, ready-to-run toolbox talk for construction crews. Read it aloud at your morning huddle; it takes about ten minutes. Leer en español →

OSHA standard: 29 CFR 1926.50

At a glance

• Know today's answers: who's trained, where the kit is, what the address is
• Call 911 early — downgrade later if you were wrong
• Severe bleeding: direct pressure, hard, and don't let go
• Suspected head, neck, or back injury: don't move them

Introduction

When someone goes down on a jobsite, the first five minutes are decided by whoever happens to be standing closest — which means you. You don't need to be a medic; you need to know four things cold: who's trained, where the supplies are, how to get EMS to this exact spot, and what NOT to do while help is coming. Today's talk puts those answers in your head before the day you need them.

Before Anything Happens

• Know who on today's crew is first-aid/CPR trained — there must be a trained person available when a clinic isn't minutes away
• Know where the first aid kit and (if on site) the AED live, and that they're stocked — flag a raided kit
• Know the site address AND the nearest gate or access point — "the jobsite on 59th" wastes minutes; post it, save it in your phone
• Emergencies inherit yesterday's housekeeping: clear routes matter now

First Response

• Make the scene safe FIRST — don't become the second victim (traffic, live power, an unstable trench, the machine that did it)
• Call 911 early and put someone specific on it: "YOU — call 911, then meet the ambulance at the gate"
• Send a second person for the kit/AED and the trained responder
• Stay with the injured person; keep them still, calm, and warm

The Big Ones

• Severe bleeding: direct pressure with anything clean, hard, continuously — add layers, never peel them off; tourniquet if trained and it's limb-threatening
• Not breathing / no response: start CPR if trained, get the AED, follow its prompts — it won't shock someone who doesn't need it
• Falls, struck-by, anything involving the head, neck, or back: do NOT move them unless fire, traffic, or collapse forces it — support the head where it lies
• Heat stroke (confusion, collapse in heat): 911 plus aggressive cooling immediately — covered in the heat talk, worth repeating

After

• EVERY injury gets reported same-day, including the "it's nothing" ones — small injuries left quiet become infections, claims problems, and repeat incidents
• Preserve the scene of a serious incident until it's been looked at
• Near-misses are free lessons: report those too

Key takeaways

• Know the trained people, the kit, and the address — today
• Scene safe first; no second victims
• 911 early, one person assigned, gate met
• Bleeding: pressure hard, don't let go
• Head/neck/back: don't move them
• Report every injury, same day

Questions for your crew

1. Know today's answers before anything happens: who is first-aid trained, where the kit and AED live, and the exact site address and access point.
2. Make the scene safe FIRST — traffic, live power, an unstable trench — don't become the second victim.
3. Call 911 early and assign it to a specific person: you call, then meet the ambulance at the gate.
4. Severe bleeding: direct pressure with anything clean, hard and continuous — add layers, never peel them off.
5. Suspected head, neck, or back injury: do NOT move them unless fire, traffic, or collapse forces it.
6. Report every injury same day, including the 'it's nothing' ones — and report near-misses, they're free lessons.

Run this talk with crew sign-offs

This talk is part of the Safirst ONE toolbox talk library, in English and Spanish. Your foreman picks the talk in the app, the crew signs from their own phones by scanning a QR code, and the signed record files itself in your Docs Locker. Talk to Safirst to get it for your crews.

← All toolbox talks