First Aid

Fainting, Nosebleeds, Foreign Objects, Burns

Fainting

A person who faints loses consciousness briefly. If you feel faint, lie down or sit down and place your head between your knees. If someone else faints, follow these steps:

-Leave the person lying down. Check the airway. If the person is breathing, raise the legs above the level of the head.-Loosen any tight clothing.-If the person does not regain consciousness in one to two minutes, call for help.

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NosebleedIf you experience a nosebleed, pinch your nose shut with your thumb and index finger and breathe through your mouth. Keep the nose pinched for 5 to 10 minutes. If bleeding lasts more than 15 minutes or if there is a lot of blood, get medical assistance immediately.

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Foreign Object in the Eye

Foreign Objects Include:(Anything that does not belong in your eye!)-wood/metal scraps, filings-pencil-pin

CareIf you get sand/dirt in your eye:-Don’t rub the eye.-Try to flush the object out of your eye with clean water. (Which means run water over the eye.)-If you cannot clear your eye, get medical assistance. Pg. 69

More Eye Care

*If an object such as a pencil is in the eye, DO NOT REMOVE IT. Removing the object could cause further injury, bleeding, infection, or at the very worst the eye could pop out! (Remember in Pirates of the Caribbean, a fork stuck in your wooden eye can present problems! )

-Call 911 or transport that person to the emergency room. As you wait for 911 or if you are transporting the person, stabilize the object with some type of wrap and cover the other eye to prevent any movement. (Our eyes move together, so if your uninjured eye is moving around that means the pencil stuck in your injured eye will be flopping around.) -Keep the victim calm.

BurnsFirst aid for burns depends on the following factors:-The amount of skin burned.-The location of the burn.-The depth of the burn.

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First Degree:Affects only the outer layer of skin (epidermis).

Symptoms:red swellingpain

Injuries:cookinghot ironcurling ironsome sunburns

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Care:-run cool water over injured site-apply ice for pain-apply ointment like aloe

*FYI: Aloe should only be applied after the heat from the burn has left the body. (If you put your hand on a burn and the skin feels hot, you should not apply aloe. Only apply when the skin no longer feels hot…that may be 1-2 days later.)

Skin layers affected by 1st degree burn.

Second Degree:Burns through the epidermis and second layer of skin (dermis)

Injuries:cookinghot ironcurling ironmost sunburns

Symptoms:

red/splotchy skinswellingpain (severe)blisters

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Care:-run cool water over injured site-apply ice for pain-apply ointment like aloe -blister: (do not pop unless they cause

discomfort or pain)

**In most cases of first degree or second degree burns, 911 does not need to be called. Exceptions: If the victim is very young (5 years old or younger) or if the victim is very elderly because their bodies can easily go into shock.

**FYI:Blisters are like the body’s version of a band-aid. The epidermis “pops up” to cover an injured area. If you’ve ever popped a blister and seen the clear fluid that comes out- that’s the body’s version of Neosporin or a healing ointment. In other words, the body forms a blister over an injury to keep it from being infected.

Blister

Third Degree:Involves all the layers of skin and may even burn through the fat (hypodermis), muscle, or bone.

InjuriesTraumatic events such as a house fire or

car accident are the most common causes. Some 3rd degree burns are sometimes seen in the back of restaurants when hot oil is spilled.

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Symptoms

-charred black, white, sometimes splotchy red skin-skin looks dry, flaky-little to no pain at 3rd degree burn site-3rd degree burns may also have 2nd or 1st degree burns that surround it.

Skin layers affected by 3rd degree burn.