First-Aid Kits
Making a kit. From your reading of this chapter, you know that many first-aid measures do not require any equipment. However, the cuts, scrapes, and scratches that occur in a large proportion of all accidents do need some treatment. You should remember that poisonings, sprains. wounds, and shock also require some equipment. You may need to have it handy.
A first-aid kit should be large enough to contain all of the supplies necessary to treat an emergency situation. It should be small enough to be portable, and inexpensive enough to be practical.
If you like, you can purchase a pre-packaged first-aid kit. You will probably need two kits, one for the home and one for the car. The following list of contents is intended as a basic guide and may be lengthened at the desire of any first-aider, provided that no items are dangerous.
First Aid for Fainting
Causes of fainting. Cartoons often show women shrieking and fainting at the approach of a mouse, or a snake, or a singing star. It is not very often that you will have to give first aid for this sort of a condition. However, fainting can be caused by great fear or any other condition which causes blood to drain away from the brain.
Perhaps you have heard of someone who has fainted after sitting for a long time in a stuffy room. The stuffy air was probably only one of the causes. Lack of sleep, tension, fatigue, and poor diet might have been other causes.
Helping a victim. You can treat a fainting victim by laying him down and elevating his feet slightly. This will help the flow of blood to the brain. If the person is sitting and feels faint, he should place his head between his knees to help revive circulation to the brain.
Women are not the only ones who faint. Soldiers who are forced to stand at attention in the heat of the sun for long periods often faint. The heat causes the blood vessels to expand. Because of the soldier’s inactivity and the tension he is under, the blood collects in the lower parts of the body.
If a person faints from any of the
previously mentioned causes, the first-aid measures already described should revive him within a few minutes. If the person does not respond quickly, there is probably something else wrong. The alert first-aider should then check for an injury suffered during a fall or some other complication. If simple first aid does not produce a quick recovery, a doctor should be consulted at once.
First Aid for Shock and Burns
Shock. Most people suffer shock after an accident. Consequently, it is a good idea to treat all accident victims for shock.
Doctors know that one of the causes of shock is a partial collapse of the circulatory system. Therefore, the treatment for shock is to get the patient to a doctor or hospital where he may be given plasma or a blood transfusion. For this reason you should call an ambulance or a doctor immediately.
Quite often a person in shock has suffered a loss of blood, either through a wound or internal injuries. However, this is not always the case. A person in shock is usually pale and listless. His body processes are slow. Perspiration may appear on his face. He may vomit or feel nauseous.
If the shock is severe, the patient may be unconscious. In this case, give no fluids, but lay the patient down and elevate his feet slightly. Call a doctor at once.
Electric current injury. Do not confuse shock with electric shock (electrocution ). The two conditions are not similar and are treated differently. The treatment for electric shock is artificial respiration because a shock may stop breathing. Treatment for burns is also given, because electric current accidents often involve severe burns.
Burns. One of the most common and most painful injuries is a burn. Burns may be caused by heat, chemicals, sunlight, or electricity. They may be mild (first degree), severe (second degree), or very severe (third degree). In any of them, good first aid may relieve considerable pain and may save a life.
First aid for burns. The best first aid for any burn is simple and easy to remember. If possible, plunge the burned area in ice water immediately. If you cannot plunge the burned part into water, you can apply ice or very cold water to the burned area. Wet sterile cloths or ice packs are good for this. Keep the burn chilled until the victim can be taken to a doctor.
Placing ice water or cold water on the burn relieves pain very well. It also helps prevent further tissue damage within the burned area.
This treatment is very effective and may be used for all burns, whether slight first-degree burns or very severe third-degree burns.
If the skin of the burned area is not broken, you may cover the burn with a sterile pad and bandage it loosely.
Burns of the eye. In the case of a chemical burn to the eye, immediate first aid is necessary. Wash the eye with great quantities of water. It is extremely important to remove every trace of the chemical, especially if a strong alkali is the harmful substance. This first aid is so important that the first-aider should continue pouring water over the open eye even while the victim is being transported to a doctor or hospital.
First Aid for Poisoning - Part 1
Poisons in the home. Poisons account for thousands of accidental deaths each year. Most of the victims are children who have swallowed substances that were never intended for their consumption. Household preparations such as ammonia and cleaning fluids account for many poisonings. But pesticides and overdoses of medicines such as aspirin account for the largest proportion.
Preventing poisonings. There are a number of things you should do to "poisonproof" your home. First, obtain your parents’ cooperation and aid in your attempt to reduce the hazards of poisonings. Second, place everything poisonous in cabinets and on shelves that cannot be reached by young children. Third, throw away all unlabeled medicines, out-of-date prescriptions, old bottles of iodine and other antiseptics, and old cough medicines. Finally, label all medicines and place them in a locked cabinet.
Detecting poisonings. If you saw an unconscious person being pulled out of the water by two lifeguards, you would assume that the person had had a drowning accident. It would be easy to decide on the proper first-aid treatment.
If the unconscious person were a little girl in your back yard, you would not be so sure of the cause. You might think she had fainted, had fallen from a tree, had been shocked, or had been poisoned. In this case, the only first aid you could give would be to send for a doctor. You would not be sure what had happened to her.
If the accident victim were conscious, or some sign of a poisoning were present, you would be able to do more. In this case you could proceed with the five first-aid measures that follow.
Treating poisonings. When you arrive on the scene and a victim is still conscious, there are several things you can do.
1. Give the person as many glasses of water or milk as he can drink, even if it promotes vomiting. This step should be taken immediately. The water will dilute the poison and reduce its action. The water may produce vomiting, which is a helpful reaction.
2. Find out what poison he has taken and the antidote that will counteract the poison. The antidote is often listed on the container. Give the antidote if it is readily available.
3. Call a doctor and give him as much information as possible.
4. Induce vomiting right away unless the poison is a corrosive acid, an alkali, or a petroleum product. This can be done by giving milk of magnesia or a solution of baking soda.
5. Keep the person lying down and warm.
These first-aid measures will be of great value if performed soon after the poisoning has occurred. The water or milk helps slow the absorption of the poison and dilutes it. The vomiting gets rid of at least part of the poison in the stomach. Getting rid of the poison is extremely important.
Many times the victim of a poisoning can tell you what poison he has swallowed. In other cases, a telltale container or an acid or alkali burn on the victim’s mouth may indicate that he was poisoned.
When you have evidence of a poisoning, you can proceed to administer first aid without delay. Any delay increases the chance of injury.
General Principles of First Aid
Rules of first aid. Whenever you are called upon to perform first aid, you should keep in mind all of the following principles.
1. First aid is emergency treatment which is given before medical treatment can be obtained. It is not medical treatment; therefore the first-aider should always call a doctor as soon as possible. It is the time between the accident and the doctor’s arrival that most concerns the first-aider.
2. Critical emergencies demand immediate attention. In these cases immediate first aid is the difference between life and death. Always check for severe bleeding, stoppage of breathing, and poisoning. Treat each of these conditions immediately. Do not call a doctor first. If there is another person present, send him for the doctor.
3. Keep the victim lying down, warm, and comfortable. Move him only to avoid danger, and do that gently. Remember that broken bones and internal injuries may have occurred.
4. Check for all injuries. Do not give first aid for a cut toe and neglect a broken leg.
5. Never give liquids to an unconscious person or to one you suspect has internal injuries.
6. Encourage the victim. Do not talk to him about his injuries or allow him to examine them. Try to keep his spirits high.
These are the most important rules of first aid. There are other rules, but you will discover them as you are studying each of the first-aid techniques described in this chapter.
The importance of first aid. You may wonder why you are studying first aid when many adults are certainly well prepared to give it. The answer is simple. You may be the only person available to give first aid.
You are now spending more and more of your free time away from home. You may take long hikes in the woods. You may go swimming or ice-skating with groups of your friends. You may spend part of your time baby-sitting. Certainly, there are many times when you might be required to give first aid to yourself or a friend.
In any accident that occurs far from adequate adult medical help, you would have to provide all the first-aid treatment. Then you would need all the knowledge of first aid you could obtain.
Your knowledge of first aid will not, of course, make you a doctor. You can use your knowledge only to help an accident victim who has no other medical help. If adults are nearby at the time of an accident, they may be able to offer good first aid. In a situation where there are adults who know first aid, you may not be needed. You may still be able to offer advice on the newest and most effective first-aid techniques, however.
Your knowledge of new and effective first-aid methods can be of great value to you when you are far from medical help. It can also make you a more valuable and responsible babysitter and family member.
Safety and First Aid
Did you know that you are safer in a jet plane than you are in your own home? Did you know that there are more people seriously injured in home accidents than in industrial and automobile accidents? These facts are not startling when you consider the number of opportunities for falls, poisonings, and burns in the average home.
The fast automobiles, pesticides, electric and gas appliances, and outdoor living that are so much a part of our daily lives create many dangerous situations that did not exist twenty years ago. Because you are living in an age of fast cars, mechanical gadgets, and new chemicals, your knowledge of safety and first aid is very valuable.
The accident rate in homes has been declining in recent years. Experts agree that knowledge of safety and first-aid practices can produce an even greater decline. This knowledge can help you to eliminate the causes for accidents in your home and can help you to provide first aid for anyone who may be an accident victim.
Can You Find Out?
From your doctor, local hospital, or Red Cross unit, find out what facilities your community offers for the treatment of accident victims. Whom would you call in case of poisoning? How would you contact an ambulance unit? Is there an emergency rescue team in your community? Make a list of the names, phone numbers, and locations of the people and organizations available for emergency treatment of accident victims of all kinds.
