First Aid Acronyms Explained – LIONEL

Updated August 2024

An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation, created from the initial letters of a phrase or a word. The first aid world uses many acronyms to help us remember different treatments. In this series we have explained the meanings of the most common first aid acronyms to help you avoid confusion!

The first aid acronym LIONEL is used to help the first aider remember what information the emergency services will require when they are phoned.   Having this information to hand to the best of your abilities, before making an emergency phone call can seem like a lot of extra unnecessary effort in a stressful situation.  However it will make help the call handler to assign the correct resources to you as quickly as possible, without having to ask you for further information and await your response.

Therefore, good information gathering prior to calling for help, can mean a much more efficient rescue process is instigated and you won’t forget any crucial things.

L – Location. Where exactly are you, and how will the emergency services access the site?  Are there any gates, security doors etc that need to be opened? Do you know the address, grid reference or What3Words if required?

I – Incident – What happened, as far as you know?  Only provide what you know to be accurate information.  Do not ‘invent’ a description based on what you think seems to have happened.

O – Other Services Required.  Do you also need the police or other emergency services?  Maybe the coastguard if you are at the beach?

N – Number of Casualties. If you are in a dangerous or remote environment, don’t forget to mention the number of people in the party, even if they are not injured, they may also need assistance in getting to a safe place.

E – Extent of Injuries.  What has happened to the casualty, and what have you done.  Again, be factual, don’t try and diagnose an injury or condition. They may also ask you about -E – the Environment you’re in. Tell them the current weather and daylight situation if it’s relevant.

L – Location confirmation. They may then discuss with you the – L – Logistics of your rescue if in an outdoor or difficult situation.

Emergency Action Planning

Often an Emergency Action Plan is used to provide first aiders with a protocol to follow in an emergency, thus reducing the stress of a situation and saving time.  An Emergency Action Plan should be specific to the work site, and include information such as: Location, Access to the Location, Nearest Hospital, Closest Location with mobile phone reception if appropriate, personnel to notify including contact details, plus the rest of the LIONEL acronym.

Emergency Action Plans can be kept in the first aid kit, or be pinned to the wall or kept in another appropriate place depending on the situation.

A good template for a short Emergency plan is this one from FISA – the Forest Industry Safety Accord. You can download it then amend it to suit your business or organisation.

Calling for help in remote locations – phone or text:

As well as phoning 999 or 112, you can also text 999 if you have minimal battery or signal. You need to register your phone number in advance though. Find out more about this free service and how to set up your phone for texting 999 in this quick blog here.

You can also use other available etworks if yours is not giving you a signal where you are.

This video explains various options for calling the emergency services if you are in a remote location.

Get confident – get trained!

To prepare for the worst why not consider taking a first aid course so you can manage an incident if one occurs. To find out which first aid course is best for you check out our full range of First Aid courses. 

Everyone on our courses receives a FREE digital first aid manual. We have a range of manuals relevant to the courses we teach – Outdoor, Equestrian, First Aid at Work, Paediatric and Sports. They are a great resource that you can download onto your phone or other device and have all that first aid knowledge at your fingertips. You can view them and buy them for less than £4 here.