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First aid must be provided promptly and correctly, sometimes delaying death is like. First aid must be provided promptly and correctly. Moreover, both words are key here: sometimes the delay is like death, and sometimes it is better to do nothing than to do and harm.
Why doesn't everything go smoothly with first aid? Because it is usually provided by non-professionals.
We have all heard something about tourniquets, dressings and splints, but quite often in our memory there are rather approximate information about how and when it should be used.
As a result, tourniquets are applied for several hours, and an indirect heart massage is performed directly on the broken ribs of the victim in an accident.
Top 12 mistakes in first aid:
1. Excessive perturbations
Remember: victims of road accidents and those who have fallen from a height before the arrival of an ambulance can only be touched if it is physically dangerous where they lie (a burning house or car, a tilted tree, incoming water, etc.). The rule “do not move or overturn the victim without a vital necessity” is written in blood and ink that displays the terrible word “disability”. Suffice it to say that rescuers sometimes prefer to disassemble the car around the victim than to forcibly pull him out of there.
You also don’t need to jerk people with suspected heart attacks or strokes. Such a person should not go to the hospital on foot with support, he should be carried on a stretcher. Otherwise, the "hike" can cost him dearly.
2. Reduction of "dislocations"
You are 100% sure that the victim has a dislocation, and you are going to correct him. Stop! Ask yourself a simple question: are your eyes capable of emitting X-rays? If the answer is yes, then you should go to the Nobel Committee or to the nearest mental hospital. In other cases (in conditions other than taiga or desert), you cannot set yourself what looks like a dislocation. Because even an experienced doctor will not dare to identify such an injury by eye. Adequate actions in such a situation: immobilize the injured limb, call an ambulance and go to the emergency room.
Now about immobilization. Splicing is not about tying a broken arm to a straight stick. If you decide to start applying an impromptu splint, keep in mind: the limb cannot be straightened forcibly! It is bandaged as it is - in the current most convenient position for the victim so that not only the fracture site is immobilized, but also two, and in some cases three of the nearest joints.
Photo: broma
3. Inexperienced harnessing
When stopping bleeding by applying a tourniquet (starting with “not there” and ending “for a long time”), so many mistakes are made that many experts urge to be limited to just a tight bandage, bend the limb in the joint, which is located above the injured vessel, or tampon the wound tightly. In most cases, this is sufficient. In this case, the bandages are not changed, but applied one on top of the other. Arriving doctors will be able to quickly assess blood loss on them.
Well, if we are talking about the worst arterial bleeding, you should not waste precious time looking for a tourniquet. Squeeze the fountain of scarlet blood with your fingers as quickly as possible, otherwise a person may not live up to the moment of applying the knowledge of tourniquet.
Even in the case of arterial bleeding, remember that the estimated time to apply the tourniquet is not more than 1 hour in winter and 1.5-2 hours in summer. And it is better, regardless of the season, to dissolve the tourniquet every 20 minutes, so that later the victim does not “thank” for the lost limb.
4. Stopping nosebleeds by throwing back the head
If you throw your head back, then the blood from the nose will stop flowing. But will the bleeding stop? No. It's just that the blood will drain into the nasopharynx, and then into the stomach. It seems like nothing fatal, but, firstly, we do not see whether the bleeding continues or not? And secondly, there is such an unpleasant thing as bloody vomit.
With nosebleeds, adequate help: slightly tilt the victim's head forward, plug the nostrils with a clean napkin or cotton swab dipped in hydrogen peroxide, and then find out the cause of the incident.
Photo: d-d-daisy
5. Drug therapy on a whim
This is the most "weighty" point of the program, because, despite the direct prohibitions of doctors, "this medicine is prescribed only for you, do not advise it to anyone", in our culture it is customary to recommend drugs for internal use, proceeding from the magical method of analogy - "once for me or again it helped someone in this situation, it means …”. So - it doesn't mean anything!
If a person feels bad, do not offer him medications that have helped in a similar situation. First, it is not at all a fact that similar external symptoms are caused by the same problem. Secondly, drugs have specific uses, contraindications and side effects that are not obvious to people without medical education.
The most common drug mistake is to offer nitroglycerin to anyone holding onto the chest. The consequences of such assistance can be worse than one might imagine, up to a sharp drop in pressure to a critical level. The only exception: the victim himself asks for a certain drug or inhaler. In this case, most likely, he is chronic and has recommendations from the attending physician.
6. Artificial vomiting in cases where it should not be allowed
In case of poisoning, it is usually advised to induce vomiting in the victim. However, this categorically cannot be done if there is a suspicion of poisoning with acid, alkali and other caustic substances. If vomiting is justified, then you do not need to use potassium permanganate, soda, etc. on your own. All you need is a lot of warm water.
7. In his mouth with a spoon - the premise is wrong
Most often, epileptics suffer from the forcible insertion of something into the teeth. From spoons, screwdrivers and even knives, with which compassionate citizens try to help with an attack, there is a lot of harm (broken teeth and throat injuries from metal and obstruction of the trachea and bronchi from more fragile objects), but there is usually little sense. It is not necessary to hold the epileptic's arms and legs with all his might, it is enough to slightly support the head to avoid injury, and when the convulsions subside, turn the person to one side.
Photo: boliston
8. Oil for burns, iodine in the wound
Grandma's "grease the burn with oil" has eaten into the minds of entire generations and is hardly etched away even by stubborn swotting "no, no, no." It is impossible to lubricate a fresh burn with oil or all kinds of panthenols. Unless, of course, there is a desire to aggravate the situation. Correctly cool the affected area with cold water, but not for a minute or two, but 10-15-20.
Pouring iodine, alcohol and brilliant green into a deep wound is also pointless - it will not bring any benefit. Only harm. In inept hands, these substances are needed only to lubricate scratches. Otherwise, it is safer for "dummies" to use hydrogen peroxide.
9. Slaps on the back of a choking person
This common way to help a choking person is not the safest. In certain cases, such claps can contribute to an even deeper penetration of a foreign body into the respiratory tract. It is impossible to determine in advance whether this case will fall into the category of dangerous, so the best strategy in this case is for the victim himself (if possible without panic) to lean forward and take a few sharp breaths. Or others may grab him from the back under the armpits and press on the solar plexus (not on the chest).
ten. Inexperienced cardiopulmonary resuscitation
In theory, everyone should be able to do indirect heart massage and artificial respiration, at least, this is taught, starting from school. But, if you do not know how, then it is better not to take it. And if you can, then consider a few comments. First, if a person's heart beats and the pulse is felt, such events are not needed! Secondly, it is not necessary and dangerous to beat with all the foolishness on the sternum. A precordial blow inflicted by a layman is likely to be of no use, but it can break your ribs and cause many more injuries.
11. Removing items from wounds
You can get a splinter out of your finger, a nail that slightly pierces the skin, or a fragment of a plate that clearly does not cut your finger in half. But never, in no case, should you remove any objects from a more or less serious wound. Even if a piece of rusty wire sticks out in a person. If you are worried about an infection, it’s too late, the whole infection is already inside for a long time, you can fight it later, unlike bleeding. The doctors of the ambulance, not for the uncle of the investigator, hold knives and other extraneous things in place until the moment when the victim finds himself in the conditions of a deployed operating room. Because in an open field, on the road or at home, they will have nothing to stop the bleeding, which can open after removing the object from the wound, and make up for the blood loss.
No matter how scary a man with a knife in his chest looks, it is absolutely impossible to take it out yourself.
12. Alcohol therapy
Anesthesia with alcohol has become a part of folklore more firmly than one would like it to be. Before offering someone a brandy for anesthesia or anesthesia, it is better to look for other options for providing assistance or refrain from it altogether. Firstly, in a drunken stupor, pain sensitivity changes, and this is unnecessary movement during fractures and difficulty in making a diagnosis. Secondly, most drugs are not designed to be taken simultaneously with alcohol. Not to mention the fact that a drunk patient is a doctor's nightmare who needs to be pacified and helped at the same time.
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Photo: Foraggio Fotographic
In general, providing first aid is sometimes dangerous - you can harm. In the United States, the law of the "Good Samaritan" is in force, according to which a person providing first aid in an emergency cannot then be dragged to court for possible harm. And there were such cases.
Does this mean that you need to abandon the fallen to the mercy of fate, leave the bleeding one and remain indifferent to someone else's misfortune? Of course not.
Another thing is that your actions must always be weighed against competence. And also listen carefully to what is taught in life safety and take first aid courses. They are offered by the Emergencies Ministry, the Red Cross, driving schools, tourist clubs and many other organizations.
Photo: Army.mil
