What should you do if you suspect someone has a spinal injury?

When you suspect someone has a spinal injury, it is crucial to keep the person still and avoid movement. This is because any unnecessary motion could potentially worsen the injury, leading to increased damage to the spinal cord or surrounding structures. The spine plays a critical role in protecting nerve pathways, and even slight movement can cause complications such as paralysis or further neurological damage.

Keeping the person still not only helps to protect the spinal cord but also allows emergency medical services to assess and manage the injury as safely as possible. While it's important to monitor their responsiveness and comfort, ensuring that they remain immobilized is a top priority in the initial response. Movement can exacerbate a suspected spinal injury and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary to ensure the individual's safety, such as in the case of an immediate threat to life.