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newSchoolWorks.com › VoTechWorks › Hospitality, Food & Tourism › Culinary Arts › Universal Core: Safety, Math, Communication & Career for Culinary Arts › Lesson 2
HOS-CULI27-01 · Lesson 2 · 18 clock hours · lab

First Aid, CPR, and Kitchen Emergency Response

Objective. Students will demonstrate correct first aid response for burns, lacerations, and choking, and perform adult CPR with AED use to the standard required for a nationally recognized first aid/CPR card.

⚠ Pending professional review

This lesson, its worked examples and its practice questions has not yet been verified by a certified food-safety manager and industry professional or by a certification or approval body. It is a study draft and may contain errors. Do not use it as instructions for work on a job site or on live equipment. Always follow your instructor, your supervising professional, and current official references and regulations.

VoTechWorks program approval and accreditation are still in progress. Credentials are issued only by the certifying bodies named in each program, after their own exams.

Why Kitchen Workers Need First Aid and CPR Skills

Commercial kitchens are among the most hazard-dense workplaces in the hospitality industry. Hot surfaces, sharp tools, slippery floors, and high-pressure pace create daily risk of burns, lacerations, and cardiac events. Health departments and the American Culinary Federation both recognize that a skilled culinarian must protect colleagues and guests as readily as preparing a sauce. Earning a nationally recognized first aid and CPR card—from a provider such as the American Red Cross or American Heart Association—documents that competence and is increasingly required for employment.

Recognizing and Managing Burns

Burns in the kitchen fall into three depth categories. Superficial (first-degree) burns affect only the outer skin layer; the skin is red and painful but unbroken. Partial-thickness (second-degree) burns extend into the dermis and produce blisters. Full-thickness (third-degree) burns destroy all skin layers and require immediate emergency medical services (EMS).

For any burn, follow these steps:

1. Stop the burning process. Remove the person from the heat source; remove saturated clothing that is not stuck to skin.

2. Cool the burn. Run cool (not ice-cold) water over the area for at least 10 minutes. Do not use butter, oil, or ice.

3. Cover loosely. Apply a sterile non-stick dressing or burn gel-coated dressing.

4. Call 911 for any burn larger than three inches, burns to the face, hands, feet, genitals, or joints, all third-degree burns, and burns involving inhalation.

5. Don nitrile gloves before touching any wound to protect both the injured person and yourself from cross-contamination.

Controlling Bleeding from Lacerations

Mandoline slicers, knives, and broken glassware cause lacerations that can bleed heavily. The priority is direct pressure.

1. Put on nitrile gloves and a face shield if blood splatter is possible.

2. Place a sterile gauze pad directly over the wound and press firmly.

3. Maintain continuous pressure for at least 10 minutes without lifting the pad to check.

4. If the gauze soaks through, add more gauze on top—do not remove the original pad.

5. Call 911 for wounds that do not slow bleeding, wounds with embedded objects, or any wound with arterial spurting.

6. Document the incident on an official incident report form immediately after care is provided.

Responding to Choking

A conscious adult or child who cannot cough, speak, or breathe needs the abdominal thrust (Heimlich maneuver) immediately:

1. Confirm the person is choking—ask "Are you choking?"

2. Stand behind the person, place one foot forward for balance.

3. Make a fist, place the thumb side against the middle of the abdomen, just above the navel and well below the breastbone.

4. Grasp your fist with the other hand and deliver firm inward-and-upward thrusts.

5. Repeat until the object is expelled or the person becomes unresponsive.

6. If the person becomes unresponsive, lower them to the floor, call 911, and begin CPR—each time you open the airway to give breaths, look for and remove any visible object.

For a conscious infant (under 1 year), use alternating back blows and chest thrusts—never abdominal thrusts.

Adult CPR: Compressions and Rescue Breaths

Cardiac arrest can follow severe electric shock, anaphylaxis, or sudden cardiac events. Early, high-quality CPR dramatically improves survival. For an unresponsive adult with no normal breathing:

1. Call 911 (or direct someone to call) and send for an AED.

2. Position the heel of one hand on the center of the chest (lower half of the sternum); place the other hand on top, fingers interlaced.

3. Compress at least 2 inches deep at a rate of 100–120 compressions per minute (approximately the beat of "Stayin' Alive").

4. Allow full chest recoil after each compression; minimize interruptions.

5. If trained and willing, give 2 rescue breaths after every 30 compressions (30:2 ratio); tilt the head, lift the chin, seal the mouth, and deliver each breath over 1 second until chest rise is visible.

6. Continue until an AED is ready, EMS takes over, or the person shows obvious signs of life.

Child CPR (age 1 to puberty) uses the same 30:2 ratio with compressions at least 2 inches deep. Infant CPR uses 2 fingers on the center of the chest just below the nipple line, compressing about 1.5 inches, at 30:2 for single rescuers.

Using an AED

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) analyzes heart rhythm and delivers a shock if needed. Any bystander can use one safely:

1. Power on the device (open the lid or press the power button).

2. Attach the pads to bare, dry skin as shown in the diagrams on the pads—one pad on the upper right chest, one on the lower left side.

3. Plug in the connector and follow voice/visual prompts.

4. Ensure no one is touching the patient when the AED analyzes or shocks—call out "Clear!"

5. Resume CPR immediately after the shock and continue following prompts.

The chain of survival reinforces why every second counts: early recognition and call for help → early CPR → early defibrillation → advanced care → post-cardiac-arrest care.

Documentation and Legal Obligations

After any kitchen emergency, complete an incident report form before leaving the facility. Record the date, time, location, persons involved, nature of injury, first aid actions taken, disposition (sent to hospital, refused care, etc.), and witness names. Accurate documentation protects the worker, the employer, and supports workers' compensation claims. Good Samaritan laws in all US states provide legal protection to lay rescuers who act in good faith.

Key terms8

Chain of survivalA sequence of actions—early recognition and EMS activation, early CPR, early defibrillation, advanced care, and post-cardiac-arrest care—that together maximize survival from sudden cardiac arrest.
Direct pressureThe primary method of controlling bleeding: pressing a sterile dressing firmly and continuously against a wound to promote clotting without removing the dressing.
Abdominal thrust (Heimlich maneuver)A series of inward-and-upward compressions applied to the abdomen of a conscious choking victim to expel a foreign-body airway obstruction.
AED (Automated External Defibrillator)A portable device that analyzes heart rhythm and, when indicated, delivers an electrical shock to restore a normal rhythm in sudden cardiac arrest; designed for use by lay rescuers.
Partial-thickness burnA burn that extends through the outer skin layer into the dermis, characterized by blistering; also called a second-degree burn.
Rescue breathA breath delivered by a rescuer into a victim's airway during CPR—one breath delivered over 1 second until visible chest rise occurs, given after every 30 chest compressions in a 30:2 ratio.
Incident report formAn official workplace document completed after any injury or emergency, recording the event details, persons involved, actions taken, and disposition; required for legal and insurance purposes.
Compression rateThe speed at which chest compressions are delivered during CPR; the current standard is 100–120 compressions per minute for adult victims.
In class: Practice adult, child, and infant CPR compressions and rescue breaths on manikins in rotation, with the instructor timing and correcting depth and rate until each student achieves two consecutive correct cycles. · Use an AED trainer to locate, power on, attach pads, and respond to device prompts on a manikin while a partner records elapsed time; debrief against the chain-of-survival framework. · Respond to three instructor-scripted kitchen emergency scenarios in turn—a deep grease burn, a serious laceration from a mandoline, and a conscious-choking call—using a first aid kit, and document actions on an incident report form.
Materials: CPR manikins (adult, child, infant), AED trainer units, first aid kit (commercial kitchen configuration), burn gel and sterile dressings, nitrile gloves, face shields, incident-report forms, nationally recognized first aid/CPR curriculum (e.g., American Red Cross or American Heart Association authorized materials)
Check: Students must pass the skills station evaluations required by the first aid/CPR provider to earn the card; instructor also scores each emergency-scenario response on a 10-point rubric (7 of 10 required); incident report form must include all required fields completed legibly.

Practice check8

Answer each question, then check it. Nothing is recorded; this is your own practice.

Workplace safety and first aid
1. A cook splashes boiling stock on her forearm, creating a large blister. What is the correct first action after removing her from the heat source?
Workplace safety and first aid
2. While performing adult CPR alone, you should deliver compressions and rescue breaths in which ratio?
Workplace safety and first aid
3. You are using an AED on a coworker in cardiac arrest. Before the device delivers a shock, you must:
Workplace safety and first aid
4. A prep cook is gripping his throat, cannot speak, and is turning red. He nods 'yes' when you ask if he is choking. Your next step is to:
Workplace safety and first aid
5. A colleague cuts his hand deeply on a mandoline. You apply a sterile gauze pad but it quickly soaks with blood. You should:
Workplace safety and first aid
6. Which information is required on a kitchen incident report form after a first aid event?
Workplace safety and first aid
7. When performing infant CPR as a single rescuer, compressions should be delivered with:
Workplace safety and first aid
8. During the kitchen emergency scenario lab, a student scores 6 out of 10 on the instructor rubric. What happens next according to the lesson's evaluation standard?
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