First Aid For Burns

A burn involves the destruction of skin cells, and sometimes the underlying structures of muscle, fascia and bone. It occurs when these structures absorb more heat than they can dissipate. What you do for a burn in the first few minutes after it occurs CAN make a difference in the severity of the injury! Safety Tips: 1. 2. STOP THE BURNING PROCESS. Remove the source of heatif clothing catches fire, STOP, DROP AND ROLL to smother the flames. REMOVE ALL BURNED CLOTHING. Clothing may keep in the heat and cause a deeper injury. If clothing sticks to the skin, cool the material or cut or tear around the area to preserve good skin tissue. POUR COOL WATER OVER THE BURNED AREA. Keep pouring the cool water for at least 3-5 minutes. Never put ice or cold water on a burn as it lowers body temperature and can make the burn worse. REMOVE ALL JEWELRY, BELTS, TIGHT CLOTHING, METAL, ETC. Remove from burned areas and around the victims neck swelling of burned areas occurs immediately. DO NOT APPLY OINTMENTS, CREAMS OR SALVES TO WOUNDS. These things may cause infection due to their oil base and can convert wounds to deeper injury; hold in heat and worsen the burn, and have to be washed off by a physician causing the patient additional discomfort. COVER BURNS WITH A SOFT, CLEAN, DRY DRESSING, BANDAGE OR SHEET. COVER VICTIM TO KEEP HIM/HER WARM. SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Special considerations:

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FOR MINOR BURN INJURY: Keep clean, gently wash with a mild soap. Use an antiseptic spray or cream to help relieve pain and prevent infection before covering with a clean dry dressing. If wounds are not healing, appear weepy, or smell bad, seek medical help. ELECTRICAL INJURIES: DO NO TOUCH the person who is in contact with electricity. YOU WILL BE INJURED. Disconnect the source of power or call for assistance for the power companythen begin first aid. Primary concerns are clear airways, breathing, circulation and cervical spine immobilizationthen look for other injuries. CHEMICAL INJURIES: Protect yourself from contact with the chemical. Read the container label information or consult with a Poison Control Center before administering first aid for specific chemical reactions. Dry chemicals: brush as much a of the dry chemical off as possible and remove it from the affected area from a minimum of 20-30 minutes or until a medical professional tells you to stop. Remove patients clothing, including shoes, before flushing with water. If chemical is near or is in the patients eye, check for contact lenses, which should be removed before irrigation of the eye. Dont flush parts of body that are not contaminated.

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A SNAKE BITE:

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Try to safely and quickly identify the species of snake if practical. Move victim to safety. Have one person take firm command of the situation very early to improve the coordination and decision making processes. The victim's condition is assisted with an observation that calm and competent assistance is being firmly applied. There will be no time for shy or timid behavior! Action will be crucial! Proceed with no delay to use judgment calls on all of the below suggested techniques. Remove any jewelry or tight fitting clothing. Quickly tie a light restricting band both above and below the bite area a few inches away from the puncture/bite marks. Without cutting, apply strong suction, preferably within seconds of the bite directly on the main or deepest puncture/bite marks. This can be accomplished with the mouth or a commercial bite kit suction device. Time is critical here as any venom present will become destructive very quickly! Rapidly apply antiseptic cleanser to the entire area and place cold compress as closely as possible without interfering with suction process. Continue strong suction and alternate the location of compress to avoid injury from severe cold. Check constriction bands periodically as swelling may occur and loosen as appropriate. Monitor for symptoms of shock and be prepared to administer appropriate treatment. At any signs of major stress or unusual/unexplained discomfort, check for need to apply other first aid techniques elevate bitten extremity, elevate legs from lying down position, keep warm, immobilize, etc. Do not administer alcohol or cause additional stress to victim. Avoid food or liquid intake. Keep victim warm and immobilize as practical. Movement to proper treatment facility is more crucial than maintaining immobile status. Maintain above treatment functions throughout. Transport safely at the earliest possible time to competent medical service. Ideally, all of the above steps can be administered concurrently with transport phase. Keep victim as comfortable as possible and reassure that survival is not in question. Rapid response reduces damage levels. If possible and voluntarily chosen, administer electroshock to bite area in several one second bursts in a small circle around bite. Repeat this at 10-15 minute intervals getting slightly farther from bite area seeking to follow course of venom flow. Take care to utilize DC current at proper levels and prepare in advance to administer this technique. If practical, dispatch snake and take along for any identification or testing needs. The primary purpose of this first aid is to slow down or reduce the invasion of the venom, to protect the victim from further side effect trauma, to prepare the victim for later medical procedures such that complications may be minimized, and generally to get the victim to such treatment as quickly and safely as practical. Stand by for back up assistance or side task assignments like contacting relatives, protecting scene materials, providing useful information of incident facts, describe first aid administered, etc. Be confident that all which could have been done was applied to assure as successful an outcome as possible given that a venomous bite is difficult to control or establish a completely accurate prognosis. Remember, early treatment is better treatment when such a bite occurs!