A situation where an accident occurred before our very eyes with someone around us can arise at any moment. Not each of us immediately rushes to the aid of a stranger, although sometimes a human life depends on the provision of first aid. The irony of fate is that tomorrow we ourselves may be in the place of the victim. Therefore, you always need to show participation, humanity, and not try to quickly slip past. But just approaching someone in need is not enough. You need to know what to do in each specific situation. Of course, the first thing to do is to call an ambulance. Our article on how to provide first aid to victims before the arrival of the medical team.
Types of incidents
Our life is multifaceted. It offers hundreds of opportunities for interesting leisure activities in winter and summer. Going on a hike or to the beach, no one expects trouble. However, anything can happen.
Unforeseen situations await us notonly on vacation. On city streets, you can also witness unpleasant incidents with passers-by.
No matter what happens, you can't lose your head and panic. The victim does not need your tears, but help. It is different, it all depends on what actually happened. Here are some of the most common life-threatening situations:
- Drowning.
- Electric shock.
- Frostbite.
- Being burned.
- Carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Wounded.
- Fractures.
- Snake and insect bites.
- Mushroom poisoning.
Some of the above list of situations often occur in the workplace. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Articles 212 and 225) require employers to conduct first aid training for employees. A schedule and plan for such events must be drawn up without fail. Consider how to act in the above situations.
Electric shock
Such trouble can happen for two reasons:
- Domestic or work injury.
- Natural phenomenon (lightning strike).
In case of electric shock of great strength, the victim is observed:
- Dizziness.
- Convulsions.
- Loss of consciousness.
- Cardiac arrest.
- Blue skin.
On his body, as a rule, there should be wounds in places where he touched the bare wire.
First aid for electric shocksuggests the following algorithm of actions:
- Disconnect the source of injury from the network. If this cannot be done, cut the wire (for example, with an ax) or discard it, wearing rubber gloves on your hand. If this is also impossible, it is necessary to drag the victim by the clothes, and not by the hands or other parts of the body, from the place of injury.
- If the unfortunate person is conscious, they lay him on the ground (floor), lubricate the wounds with an antiseptic, give him a drink of "Analgin" and a solution of valerian (30 drops per 100 ml of water) and wait for the doctors to arrive.
- If a person is unconscious, but there is a pulse, the patient is laid on the floor, unbuttoned squeezing clothes, covered, given a sniff of ammonia.
- If the victim is not breathing, he is immediately given an indirect heart massage, alternating with mouth-to-mouth breathing. If his jaw is in spasm, his breath is mouth-to-nose.
Arriving doctors should start resuscitation on the spot using special equipment.
Drowning
Similar situations occur during recreation on the water. If you have the opportunity to help a person get ashore, you must clearly know the following rules:
- It is necessary to swim up to a drowning person only from behind, otherwise he will drown himself and drown his rescuer.
- You need to grab the victim by the hair, and if they are not there, then by the neck.
- If a drowning person grabs a rescuer and pulls him to the bottom, you need to dive. The hands of the unfortunate will instinctively open.
Having pulled a person ashore, it is necessary to visually assess his condition.
Ifthe victim has bluish skin, and bloody foam comes out of the mouth and nose, which means that a large amount of water has entered his stomach, and from there into the blood.
If the victim's skin color is pale, it means that there was a spasm in the larynx, and water did not get inside.
In any case, first aid to the victim is provided immediately. Remember, you only have 3-5 minutes to save his life.
At first, a pale and cyanotic person needs to quickly clean his mouth (nose) from algae and other similar objects. Further, the algorithm of actions with a cyanotic victim is as follows:
- Turn him face down.
- Place his belly on your knee.
- Put your fingers in his mouth and press on the root of the tongue (try to induce vomiting). If that happens, great. This means that a person with your help can clear his stomach of the fluid accumulated there. Vomiting must be stimulated many times until no more water is produced. The victim should begin to cough. If he breathes, he must be laid on either side, covered.
- If vomiting did not work, it means that all the water has already been absorbed into the blood, the stomach is empty. Don't be discouraged if your rescued person hasn't started breathing. Quickly lay him on his back and proceed to chest compressions. On his chest in the region of the heart, you need to put two of your hands (one on top of the other) and start strong and rhythmic pressing. They should be about 60 per minute.
- At the same time, a person is inhaled air into the mouth or nose. Best to matchpoints 4 and 5, performing 5-7 presses, then inhalation of air, pressing again.
If the rescued person's skin is initially pale, there is no point in making him vomit. He needs to start chest compressions and CPR immediately.
If the first medical aid is provided on time and correctly, the person should start breathing. It is laid on its side, covered. Arriving doctors must definitely examine the patient and take him to the hospital for tests, because after drowning, even if everything ended well, death can occur suddenly in a couple of hours or even days.
Frostbite
You are mistaken if you think that this happens only to those who went to the forest for a Christmas tree or to avid fishermen frozen to the ice near the hole. Frostbite can happen to anyone who has spent a lot of time in the cold. You can freeze even at zero degrees, being dressed inappropriately for the weather. Initial symptoms:
- Skin blanching.
- Desensitizing her.
Subsequently, the following symptoms appear on the affected areas:
- 1 degree. Soreness of the skin, but no necrosis. After warming, the skin turns red. It may appear puffiness and peeling. You need to rub the sore spot with a woolen mitten or hand (not snow), perform any movements with the injured limb or fingers.
- 2 degree. During the first two days, blisters with transparent exudate appear on frostbitten areas, pain, itching, and burning are observed.
- 3 degree. Necrosis occursfrostbitten skin. It has no sensitivity. After warming, blisters with bloody exudate appear on it. Later, wounds form in their place. The nail plate dies.
- 4 degree. Necrosis of both the skin and the area under it. The affected areas become bluish in color, swell, gangrene develops in these places.
In the last three cases, first aid for frostbite is as follows:
- Move a person into warmth.
- If he is wearing wet clothes, they must be removed, the skin should be wetted, and the victim should be wrapped in blankets.
- If there are blisters on the skin, sterile bandages are applied.
This is all that needs to be done before the doctors arrive.
If the situation is such that there is no need to wait for doctors, first aid should consist of the following actions:
- Place the frostbitten limb in a bowl of water at a temperature of +18 °C.
- Very slowly (about half an hour) bring it to +37 °C.
- Remove the limb from the water, blot with a cloth, wrap in something warm.
- Give the patient hot milk or tea to drink.
- Give an analgesic to drink.
Getting burned
These skin injuries are thermal (from fire or something hot), chemical, radiation and electrical. The types of first aid are different.
All burns are divided into degrees according to the degree of intensity:
- I - only redness on the skin.
- II - redness plus blister,filled with clear exudate.
- III - blackening of burnt skin, necrosis of these areas.
- IV - necrosis of the burnt area and tissues (sometimes even bones) under it.
The first stage and the second are considered easy. First aid for burns without skin necrosis consists of the following actions:
- If necessary, remove clothing. Place the affected area under running water for at least 15 minutes.
- Process "Panthenol" or its equivalent. You can use alcohol. Do not use ointments and iodine.
- Apply a light gauze bandage to the injured area. It shouldn't be tight. It is not advisable to use cotton wool.
- To relieve pain, give the victim "Analgin", "Nimesil" or another analgesic.
Third and fourth degrees Diagnosed as severe. The instructions for first aid in this case are as follows:
- Carefully remove smoldering (burning) shreds of clothing. Leave the rest alone.
- Close the wound surface with a sterile or at least clean cloth. It can be moisturized.
- Place the patient so that the burned parts are above the heart area.
- Give a person to drink warm tea or a solution of soda with s alt (water 1000 ml, s alt 3 g, soda 2 g).
Chemical burns are caused by contact with the skin of caustic substances - acids, alkalis, quicklime.
If acids (except sulfuric) get on the skin, you must:
- Rinse the affected area for a long time under running water.
- Treat the skin with a solution of soda (a pinchper glass of water) or a solution of laundry soap.
- In case of burns with sulfuric acid, treat the area with a solution of soda. Do not rinse with water!
If alkalis come into contact with the skin, you must:
- Rinse the affected area for a long time under running water.
- Treat the skin with a solution of vinegar (spoon to a glass of water).
If you get quick soda, you need to lubricate the skin with any fat.
In chemical laboratories, there are cases when inexperienced employees, when conducting certain studies, acid or alkali get inside the body. If this happens, you must immediately begin to flush the stomach with plenty of water (up to 10 liters). If acid gets inside, soda is added to the water. If lye - vinegar or lemon juice.
Carbon monoxide poisoning
This often happens in private houses with stove heating, in hazardous industries, as well as in fires, if objects are smoldering. This trouble does not bypass the drivers, in whose cars catalytic afterburners are not installed. Poisoning can be mild, moderate or severe. In the first case, a person has:
- Headache of high intensity.
- Tinnitus.
- Vomiting.
- Impaired vision.
- Dry cough.
- Difficulty breathing.
With these symptoms, the first medical aid for workers is to immediately provide fresh air to the premises. A person must be taken outside, given a cup to drinkcoffee or strong tea. The same should be done for carbon monoxide poisoning at home.
In the second case, the signs of poisoning are:
- Stuporous state, prostration, momentary blackout.
- Vomiting.
- Shortness of breath.
- Difficulty breathing.
- Tachycardia.
- Convulsions.
- Icon expansion.
- Hallucinations.
- Stunned.
- "Flies" before the eyes.
- Skin hyperemia.
In this condition, the first medical aid at work or at home before the arrival of doctors is that the victim must be taken outside. If a person is unconscious, let him smell ammonia, intensively rub his limbs, chest, face.
In severe poisoning observed:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Convulsions.
- Paralysis
- Threaded pulse.
- Involuntary bowel movements and urination.
- Half-breathing.
The victim must be taken out into the air and immediately begin resuscitation. Only professionals - resuscitators can help here.
Wounded
In everyday life, injuries with violation of the skin are obtained when falling from a height, in an accident, in a fight, at work when working with certain types of equipment. The nature of the wounds is most often cut or stab.
When providing first aid, there is an unshakable rule - before the arrival of doctors, it is impossible to remove objects present in them from injured areas of the body,for example, a knife, a protruding pin (rebar) and so on.
In case of injuries, first aid consists in stopping bleeding, treating the damaged surface, and relieving pain. The algorithm of actions should be like this:
- If the veins or arteries are damaged, which can be understood by the amount of blood flowing out, the first step is to press the damaged vessel of the victim to the bone above the injury site with your thumb.
- If the blood gushes like a fountain, the first medical aid for bleeding of this intensity is to apply a tourniquet to the damaged artery or vein above the wound. The duration of the overlay is no more than two hours. A tourniquet can be made from any improvised items - a belt, a scarf, torn pieces of clothing.
- Position the victim so that the injured area is higher than the rest of the body (raise the injured arm or leg).
- Treat the skin around the wound with an antiseptic (iodine, alcohol, vodka).
- Apply a clean (preferably sterile) dressing to the wound.
- Give the victim an analgesic, and in case of strong nervous excitement, a sedative, for example, valerian tincture.
If it so happened that the insides fell out of the peritoneum, they cannot be set! In this case, all that can be done before the arrival of the doctors is to cover them with a sterile napkin and bandage the stomach not too tight. It is forbidden to give a person anything to drink!
A gunshot wound in our time can be obtained on a hunt. First aidwith bleeding in this case is similar to that discussed above. It should be noted that it is impossible to tear off blood-soaked clothing from the wound, remove a bullet from the body, wash the wound with water, alcohol, sprinkle it with gunpowder, ashes or earth. All that is required of the poor fellow's comrades is to stop the bleeding and treat the injured area with an antiseptic.
First aid for fractures
This is the most common type of injury that occurs at home, at work, and on vacation. The number of such cases increases in winter in ice. Training in first aid for such injuries is carried out at school in the lessons in the 4th grade. From these classes, we learn that fractures are open (there is a break in the skin) and closed. Let's take a look at the steps to take for each.
Closed fracture of fingers or hand. With this injury, it makes no sense to call an ambulance. It is required to fix the limb of the victim, for example, with a scarf. If you have the skills, you can put a splint on the injured limb. Any hard object (a piece of wood, a plank, a thick stick) can play its role. The tire is applied to the arm so that it captures two joints along the length on both sides of the fracture. Then she is wrapped to the arm with bandages. This is done to immobilize the injured limb. If necessary, you can give a person a painkiller and take him to the emergency room.
Closed fracture of the leg. If the trouble happened at home, the actions are:
- Injuredarrange on the surface (floor, earth) so that the pain syndrome is felt to the least degree.
- Shelter.
- Give painkillers and sedatives.
- Wait for the ambulance.
Open fracture. First aid instructions look like this:
- Release the injured area from clothing (if you can’t take it off, then cut it, tear it off).
- Stop bleeding using one of the methods above.
- Treat the wound with an antiseptic.
- Provide rest and immobilization of the injured limb to the victim. If the trouble happened in a place where the ambulance can get quickly (for example, at home), there is no need to apply a splint yourself, because your unprofessional actions will aggravate the consequences of the fracture. All that is required of you is to be near the victim, give him a sedative and painkiller, make sure that he does not try to move.
If a person with a broken limb is unconscious, he should be given a sniff of ammonia. In his absence, you can try to bring to life a pat on the cheeks. If necessary, begin chest compressions and artificial respiration.
If the injury occurred far from civilization (for example, in the forest), first aid for fractures is somewhat different.
Consider the case when there are several he althy adults next to the victim. In this case, the comrades must deliver the person to the nearest settlement, where it is imperative to call an ambulance. The patient can be transportedonly with reliable fixation of the fracture site, regardless of whether it is closed or open.
When closed, you need to try to put a splint on the injured limb. You can use thick sticks, and take clothes torn into strips as a bandage.
If there are no suitable materials for the splint, the injured leg is securely tied to the good one, and the arm to the body.
If the fracture is open, the steps are as follows:
- It is mandatory to stop the bleeding by applying a tourniquet.
- Treat the wound with any of the antiseptics at hand (vodka, cologne).
- If there is a clean cloth, cover the wound with it.
- Immobilize a limb by splinting it.
It is best to transport the patient on an impromptu stretcher. You can use a blanket attached to sticks. As a last resort, a stretcher can be crafted from branches.
If there are no people near the victim who can transport him, he must be given the same first aid as described above. Next, arrange the patient more comfortably on the ground. Leave him water and weapons (if any) in case dangerous animals appear and quickly go for help.
The most severe injury in this category is a fracture of the spine. Most often, such a misfortune happens when doing extreme sports or in an accident. The rules of first aid in this case are as follows: the first thing to do is to make sure that the victim is breathing. If not, you need to examine his mouth for vomit, remove them and startartificial respiration and chest compressions.
Having achieved the restoration of respiratory function, the patient must be provided with absolute rest. It can not be turned over, planted, lifted his head. If there is no possibility of an ambulance arriving at the scene, transportation of the patient is required. It should be performed by at least 3 people - two will hold the stretcher in front and behind, and the third - the head of the victim. She should be motionless. It is necessary to fix a person for transportation extremely carefully. At least two tires must match the height of his body. They are placed under the back of the patient on the left and right. Shorter tires are also fixed perpendicularly from the back in the area of the legs, lower back, thoracic and cervical regions. All this is securely fixed with bandages. If the first aid kit is in the hands of the rescuers, the victim can be given an injection of an analgesic and a corticosteroid (“Hydrocortisone”).
Snake and insect bites
If a bee stings, no one calls an ambulance. It is quite enough to remove the sting from the wound (with tweezers or nails), treat the bite site with an antiseptic, apply a bandage with soda gruel to the wound, or smear it with Fenistil. If necessary, you can drink an antihistamine. Most often this is required by young children.
If the incident happened in nature, the wound can be smeared with celandine or dandelion juice.
If the bite is in the mouth or throat, swelling of the larynx may occur, leading to suffocation. In this case, the victim must be urgently transported toinfirmary to give him an antidote. If the situation is critical (a person begins to choke), he needs to insert any tube into his throat so that he can breathe.
If a more serious problem occurs - a bite of a poisonous snake, the sequence of first aid is as follows:
- Call an ambulance.
- Sick without panic, but quickly put on the ground.
- The wounds left by the snake, stretch a little and begin to suck out the poison, spitting it regularly. This procedure can only be performed if there is no damage to the rescuer's mouth. Otherwise, the poison will get into his bloodstream.
- After 20 minutes of such actions, 50% of the poison injected by the snake will leave the body of the bitten. At this point, the suction can be stopped.
- Treat the wound with an antiseptic.
- Give a bitten person a lot of water. The more he drinks, the lower the concentration of poison will be.
- If the person is in a coma, chest compressions and artificial respiration are required.
Mushroom poisoning
The most poisonous mushroom is the pale grebe. It is enough to eat one of her hats to be fatally poisoned. Fly agaric, galerina, entolomy and other mushrooms are also dangerous. Therefore, they must be collected with great care. Signs of poisoning:
- Vomiting.
- Headache.
- Diarrhea.
- Pain in the peritoneum.
- Salivation in large quantities.
- Wearing.
- Pupil constriction.
- Bronchoconstriction.
- Bradycardia.
- Convulsions.
- Hallucinations.
In many cases helpit is impossible for a person, since the poison has already been absorbed from the intestines into the blood. What can be done before the ambulance arrives? The first medical aid is to remove food from his gastrointestinal tract. This is true if less than 8 hours have passed since the meal. The victim is induced to vomit using large amounts of water. The procedure must be repeated many times. Next, the person is put to bed, given a drink of sorbent, and an ambulance is expected.
If a lot of time has passed since the meal, you can try to save a person by giving him any sorbent to drink: Polysorb, Enterosgel, Smecta, activated charcoal. You can also give to drink a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The victim needs to be put to bed, covered.
If there is oak bark at home, as well as clover grass and horsetail, you need to prepare a decoction and give it to the patient. The proportions of dry plants are 2:5:5, respectively. Take 3 tablespoons of the mixture per liter of boiling water. All this is quickly brought to a rapid boil, the fire is turned off, the broth is cooled, filtered and the patient is given 100 ml to drink. Next, doctors should take care of the person.
Conclusion
It is impossible to foresee and describe all situations. The main thing to make it a rule is to never pass by a person in need of help. Perhaps you will become for him the only savior angel who will bring him back to life.
