If you enter a home and smell natural gas, what is your first action when assessing a patient with a headache?

When you enter a home and detect the smell of natural gas, your priority should be the safety of both the patient and yourself. The specific action of removing the patient from the house to your ambulance is crucial due to the potential danger posed by natural gas. Natural gas can be highly flammable, and prolonged exposure can lead to serious health risks, including loss of consciousness or even explosion when combined with an ignition source.

By safely removing the patient from the hazardous environment, you reduce the risk of these severe outcomes. Once in a safer location, proper medical assessment and interventions can be performed without the threat of gas exposure.

While checking the patient's airway, breathing, and circulation or assessing vital signs is important in any medical emergency, these actions should be conducted in a safe environment. In this scenario, addressing immediate environmental hazards takes precedence over performing these assessments. Opening windows to ventilate the area or investigating the source of the gas leak could also pose significant risks, especially without proper protective measures. Therefore, prioritizing the patient's safety by relocating them to the ambulance is the most appropriate first action.