Snake bite:
Fear of death is the most common symptom. Give reassurance that death from snake bite is rare. Apply tourniquet or ligature with a piece of rope or cloth or any other things above the wound to check circulation. Open the holes made by the snake's teeth with a sharp knife or razor blade. Cut across and length-wise. Let the blood run from the knife cut. Suck the blood out with a tube or mouth and immobilize the limb with splints. Take the injured to the doctor as soon as possible.
Before the advent of polyvalent antivenoms it was extremely important to positively identify the snake. Although less important now, it remains highly desirable, because snake-specific antivenoms are less hazardous to the patient than polyvalent antivenoms. Snake identification can be very difficult if it was seen fleetingly or in poor light. Scale patterns and colours can be quite unreliable, especially for brown snakes.
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.
Bites of dogs, cats etc: Wash the wound thoroughly. Apply Tr. iodine and sterilized gauzed and bandage the wound and send the injured to the doctor. Watch the animal for ten days for signs of rabies (madness).When bitten by an animal, if the skin has not been broken but only bruising has occurred, there is no concern of rabies and very little, if any concern, for wound infection. Please see first aid treatment of bruises to treat these minor injuries.
The four rules of first aid:
Do not panic!
Maintain the airway: mainly through stretching out the neck carefully and removing anything from the mouth if possible.
Control bleeding: see below under 'haemorrhage'
Contact the vet
Insect bites and stings:
Insects, spiders, and scorpions are capable of causing very painful reactions. Bites and stings can be dangerous, but are rarely fatal.Sometimes they cause a severe allergic reaction, anaphylaxis .Remove the stinger using a straight- edged object.
A sting anywhere in the mouth warrants immediate medical attention. That's because stings in the mucous membranes of the mouth can quickly cause severe swelling that may block airways
Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water.Apply compress (gauze or cotton) soaked with ammonia solution or washing soda solution. The sting of the bee is usually seen in the wound and should be removed.
Burns and scalds:
The injury with fire or dry hot objects is called burn. Injury with hot liquid is called scald. All buns are painful and in case of severe burn there is also shock. Burn may be called first degree -reddening of the skin; second degree—blistering of skin; third degree -charring of the skin.
The severity and danger of the burn does not depend on the degree but on the size of burn. Shock is usually severe in burns over a large area- As a rule the first-aid treatment of burn is to give relief of Pain and treatment of shock and to handover the patient to the doctor,
In case of burn with acid use large quantity of water to wash off the acid and then wash with alkali solution and then treat as for ordinary burn. In case of burn with strong alkali or caustic soda wash with water and apply vinegar or boric acid solution and then followed by the use of burn ointment.
When Clothes Catch Fire :
Roll the person on the floor to extinguish the flames or cover him well with a thick cloth like the table cloth or chadar and roll him from side to side. Then cut away the loose clothing’s and treat as for the burn.
Bandaging :
Roller Bandage and Triangular Bandage are usually used for the First-Aid work. These are made in different sizes to be applied to the different parts of the body.
Caution
* Don't use ice. Putting ice directly on a burn can cause frostbite, further damaging your skin.
* Don't break blisters. Broken blisters are vulnerable to infection
Poisoning:
Approximately 2.5 million poisonings are reported to U.S. poison control centers every year, with nearly 1,000 reported deaths.
It is important to note that just because a package does not have a warning label doesn't mean it is safe. You should consider poisoning if someone suddenly becomes sick for no apparent reason, or if the person is found near a furnace, car, fire, or in an area that is not well ventilated.
The sooner the poison is washed off the patient, the less the injury.
* Remove clothing and drench skin with water (shower, hose, faucet, pond, ditch).
* Cleanse skin and hair thoroughly with soap and water. (Don't abrade or injure the skin while washing.)
* Dry and wrap in a blanket
When somebody takes a poison, immediately send for a doctor or send the patient to the hospital and if possible supply with the sample of the poison .The sample may help in giving quick and correct treatment . When the poison is not known a specific antidote cannot be used. Induce vomiting by giving a large quantity of the solution of common salt, solution of soap or solution of soda or putting fingers in the throat.
In the past, syrup of ipecac was recommended to induce vomiting. You should only give ipecac when told to do so by a medical professional. Recently, experts concluded that ipecac syrup should be used very rarely. Thus, the current first-line treatment for most ingested poisons is now activated charcoal, which works more quickly and effectively
Apply heat to the reduce shock. Use artificial respiration if necessary and hand over patient to the doctor.
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