Sustaining injuries for any reason is not only physically painful but also anxiety-inducing – do you just go to urgent care, call 911, or crawl into a ball and weep? Well, the latter isn’t practical since you need to be quick on your feet, but the point is that whether you’ve suffered a minor cut, or need to help a loved one navigate something as serious as cardiac arrest, it pays to have an inkling of how to handle the situation. The following are a few simple first-aid tips to keep in mind in the event that you or a loved one are injured.
How to Handle Bleeding
Even bleeding from the most egregious wound can be stopped and put under control. If you are bleeding due to a fairly run of the mill kitchen accident, then it will typically stop on its own. However, if you find yourself or someone else bleeding profusely, then you need to act fast to control the bloodletting since it can lead to shock and death. First things first, cover the wound with a piece of cloth, or, if you have access to it, some gauze. Then. as painful as it may be, apply direct pressure to the wound to stop the blood flow. Till help arrives, do not remove the cloth; if anything, add more pieces of cloth if it seems necessary. The material will help prevent blood clots from forming, which is an important thing to be on the lookout for.
Treating a Burn
Burns are common injuries, be it burning yourself with hot oil while cooking, or during a fire at your workplace. Sometimes, one can sustain a chemical burn from poorly mixed or toxic cleaning products. The first thing to do is wash off any chemicals that may have caused the burn, or splash cold water on the skin, regardless of what caused the burn. Any electrical appliance that may have caused the accident, and is within your reach, needs to be turned off immediately. However, as any medical professional will tell you, the only thing you should do when sustaining a burn is to wash it off with cold water, then call emergency services immediately.
Treating a burn on your own may very well make things worse especially if it is a serious, gruesome burn. If this is something that occurred on the job, then be sure to do as any personal injury law firm would suggest and call for help right away. This is the first thing that any lawyer in Waldorf, Maryland – where workplace injuries are quite common – would advise you to do. Documenting your injury and treatment will prove to be incredibly helpful. Whatever you do, don’t self-medicate, apply any creams, or follow the old of house wive’s tale of applying butter to a burn. Be careful not to break any blisters since this could cause infection, and only take some aspirin to help with the pain until the ambulance arrives.
Fractures
If you slipped and suspect that you may have broken something, or at least got a fracture, then both ailments can be handled in the same way until treatment is received. Basically, don’t try to straighten it yourself – or allow someone who isn’t a professional to do that for you.
Second, try to stabilize the limb and keep it immobile, then place an ice pack at the site of the injury, without putting it directly on the skin. Then, take some ibuprofen to help relieve the pain till help arrives.
Dealing with a Nose Bleed
People get nose bleeds pretty often, for a variety of reasons. As such, they tend to run the gamut from the easily resolved to the devastatingly severe. In any case, a first-aid approach remains the same, wherein you would lean slightly forward (never back), and pinch your nose just below the bridge.
Never pinch your nostrils. Then, check if the bleeding has stopped. If it hasn’t then continue pinching and checking after ten minutes. It may even help to expedite things if you apply a cold pack to the bridge of your nose while pinching. If that does not work, then definitely go to urgent care to get some help. Although, it is fairly rare for a nose bleed to prove to be entirely harmful; it is typically resolved in a few minutes if you’re careful and follow these instructions.
Being prepared and knowing how to react in a situation that requires immediate attention can help ease your pain and provide a sense of control when things feel like they’re going south. However, this is no substitute for professional medical care; always be sure to get a medical professional to assist you right away, and refrain from self-medicating. You can also enroll to Coast2Coast First Aid and Aquatics to learn more about how to respond and help during emergencies.