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Tag: first aid demonstration

First Aid for Dog Bite

First Aid for Dog Bite by Famhealth

A dog bite can lead to rabies or tetanus infection. Immediate medical care is required when the bite is from a dog that has, or might have, rabies.

Symptoms

Symptoms of infection include redness, swelling, increased pain and oozing. A doctor should look at these symptoms right away.

India accounts for 20,000 of the 45,000 deaths due to rabies every year. Over 95 percent of the time rabies virus being transmitted through dog bites.

Treatments

Always remember it’s very important to see a doctor, especially if an unfamiliar dog bit you, the bite is deep, you can’t stop the bleeding, or there are any signs of infection (redness, swelling, warmth, pus).

Treatment at home.

  • Place a clean towel over the injury to stop any bleeding.
  • Try to keep the injured area elevated.
  • Wash the bite carefully with soap and water.
  • Apply a sterile bandage to the wound.
  • Apply antibiotic ointment to the injury every day to prevent infection.

When you go to a doctor to treat the dog bite, be prepared for answering these questions:-

  • Do you know the owner of the dog?
  • If so, is the dog up to date on all vaccinations, including rabies?
  • Did the bite occur because the dog was provoked, or was the dog unprovoked?
  • What health conditions do you have? People with diabetes, liver disease, illnesses that suppress the immune system, and other health conditions may be at greater risk for a more severe infection.

Prevention

Steps to prevent dog bite.

  • When choosing a dog for a family pet, pick one with a good temperament.
  • Stay away from any dogs you don’t know.
  • Never leave young children alone with a dog — especially an unfamiliar one.
  • Don’t try to play with any dog that is eating or feeding her puppies.
  • Whenever you approach a dog, do so slowly, and give the dog the chance to approach you.
  • If a dog becomes aggressive, do not run away or scream. Stay calm, move slowly, and don’t make eye contact with the dog.

To read more on First Aid, click on the link below.

First Aid

Choking

First Aid: Choking/ Blocked Airway by Famhealth

Choking is a blockage of the upper airway/throat by food or other objects, which prevents a person from breathing effectively. Choking can cause a simple coughing fit, but complete blockage of the airway may lead to death.

Choking is a true medical emergency that requires fast, appropriate action by anyone available. Emergency medical teams may not arrive in time to save a choking person’s life.

In adults, choking most often occurs when food is not chewed properly. Talking or laughing while eating may cause a piece of food to “go down the wrong pipe.” Normal swallowing mechanisms may be slowed if a person has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs, and if the person has certain illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease.

Choking Symptoms

If an adult is choking, you may observe the following behaviours:

  • Coughing or gagging
  • Hand signals and panic (sometimes pointing to the throat)
  • Sudden inability to talk
  • Clutching the throat: The natural response to choking is to grab the throat with one or both hands. This is the universal choking sign and a way of telling people around you that you are choking.
  • Wheezing
  • Passing out
  • Turning blue: Cyanosis, a blue colouring to the skin, can be seen earliest around the face, lips, and fingernail beds. You may see this, but other critical choking signs would appear first.
  • If an infant is choking, more attention must be paid to an infant’s behaviour. They cannot be taught the universal choking sign.
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Weak cry, weak cough, or both

How to help someone who is choking?

Do not hesitate to call for emergency help if you believe a person is choking. Do not attempt to drive a choking person to a hospital emergency department.

What to do if a person is choking:

  • It is best not to do anything if the person is coughing forcefully and not turning a bluish colour. Ask, “Are you choking?” If the person is able to answer you by speaking, it is a partial airway obstruction. Stay with the person and encourage him or her to cough until the obstruction is cleared.
  • Do not give the person anything to drink because fluids may take up space needed for the passage of air
  • If the material is not yet removed, then follow Heimlich manever.

Heimlich maneuver steps

  • Comfort the victim. A person will start to panic when they are choking. Go to the victim and reassure them that you know the Heimlich manure and begin assistance. Let the sufferer know that he must remain calm, and should follow your instructions. Then get working!! 
  • Have the choking victim stand. For the Heimlich maneuver to work successfully, the choking victim must be up on their feet. If the victim is unstable or panicking you can help support them
  • Get behind the person who is choking. For the next phase of the Heimlich maneuver you need to put yourself in the right position. Get behind the person who is choking. 
  • Carefully hug the choking victim. Place your hands around the victim’s chest when you are standing behind the victim. The victim’s arms should be up and away from yours. You have to get a good hold on the person’s trunk. 
  • Close your hand in a fist. As you are hugging from behind, put your hand exactly in the middle of the person’s chest in the form of a fist. Do not tuck your thumb into your hand; it needs to be on the outside, pointed up. Place your fist above the area of the navel (belly button). There is no time to be modest and it may be required that any heavy clothing worn by the victim be removed to find the proper first placement. Whatever needs to be done in order to keep the victim from choking to death must be done. 
  • Take a hold of your fist. Create the perfect circle when you grab your fist with your free hand. Do not release your grip on your fist. 
  • Begin to thrust. Hold your arms closely; with the one hand still closed tight, push inward and up in one motion. You need to thrust hard on the victim’s abdomen. To dislodge the object blocking the victim’s airways, do the strong fisted thrust five times squeezing stronger each time. A firm thrust will also bring air from the person’s airways, making them cough. To do it right, you have to go deep, although it may hurt the victim. Don’t let this worry you! He will always be thankful for your forceful methods when he can breathe once again. Keep doing this until the item they were choking on is expelled. 

  
Through out the Heimlich maneuver, it is vital to keep a good hold of the victim in case becomes unconscious. If the maneuver is successful, sit the victim down again and don’t leave him until his breathing gets back to normal.
 

To read more on First Aid, click on the link below.

https://famhealth.in/infocus-detail/first-aid

First Aid for Drowning

First Aid for Drowning by Famhealth

Get Help

  • Notify a lifeguard, if one is close. If not, ask someone to call 102 ,108.
  • If you are alone, follow the steps below.

Move the Person

  • Take the person out of the water.

Check for Breathing

  • Place your ear next to the person’s mouth and nose. Do you feel air on your cheek?
  • Look to see if the person’s chest is moving.

If the Person is Not Breathing, Check Pulse

  • Check the person’s pulse for 10 seconds.

If There is No Pulse, Start CPR

  • Carefully place person on back.
  • For an adult or child, place the heel of one hand on the center of the chest at the nipple line. You can also push with one hand on top of the other. For an infant, place two fingers on the breastbone.
  • For an adult or child, press down at least 2 inches. Make sure not to press on ribs. For an infant, press down about 1 and 1/2 inches. Make sure not to press on the end of the breastbone.
  • Do chest compressions only, at the rate of 100-120 per minute or more. Let the chest rise completely between pushes.
  • Check to see if the person has started breathing.

Repeat if Person Is Still Not Breathing

  • If you’ve been trained in CPR, you can now open the airway by tilting the head back and lifting the chin.
  • Pinch the nose of the victim closed. Take a normal breath, cover the victim’s mouth with yours to create an airtight seal, and then give 2 one-second breaths as you watch for the chest to rise.
  • Give 2 breaths followed by 30 chest compressions.

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for a drowning victim :

  • Turn the drowning person’s head to the side, allowing any water to drain from his or her mouth and nose. Turn the head back to the center.
  • Begin mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on land, if possible, or in the water if the injured person needs immediate life-and-death measures.
  • Strongly breathe four times into the mouth of the injured person as you pinch his or her nose. This helps air get past any water that is clogging the breathing passageways and the lungs.
  • After four strong breaths, put your ear near the mouth and watch the chest for any breathing movement.
  1. Check the pulse for signs of life.
  2. Repeat the cycle.

***You’re not out of the water once the drowning victim starts to breathe and choke. In fact, the first 48 hours after a drowning incident can be the most dangerous. Complications resulting from water exposure—pneumonia, infection, heart failure—can all occur during this time. Therefore, you should always take a drowning victim to the hospital.

To read more on First Aid, click on the link below.

https://famhealth.in/infocus-detail/first-aid


Hot or Cold Compress for Injuries

Hot or Cold Compress for Injuries by Famhealth

There is so much confusion about this issue because therapeutic icing and heating — cryotherapy and thermotherapy — are rational, cheap, easy, safe self-treatment options for many common painful problems.

Ice is for fresh injuries, and heat is for stiff, aching muscles.

Ice is for injuries — calming down damaged superficial tissues that are inflamed, red, hot, swollen, pain or if it is bleeding/ post surgical pain. The inflammatory process is a healthy, normal, natural process; that also happens to be incredibly painful and more biologically stubborn than it needs to be. Icing is mostly just a mild, drugless way of dulling the pain of inflammation and taking swelling down a bit. Examples: a freshly pulled muscle.

Heat is for muscles, chronic pain, and stress — taking the edge off symptoms like muscle aching and stiffness, which have many unclear causes, but trigger points are probably one of the usual suspects. Chronic pain, especially back pain, often involves lots of tension, anxiety, hyper vigilance, and sensitization, and comfortable heat can soothe a jangled mind and nervous system. Stress and fear are major factors in many painful problems, of course.

Alternating between applications of ice and heat is called contrasting therapy. It’s extremely stimulating and is mostly used to facilitate injury recovery, with unknown efficacy.

What ice and heat are not for

Both ice and heat have the potential to do some minor, temporary harm when used poorly. Heat can make inflammation significantly worse. Ice can aggravate symptoms of tightness and stiffness; it can also just make any pain worse when it’s unwanted.

Both ice and heat are pointless or worse when unwanted: icing when you’re already shivering, or heating when you’re already sweating. The brain may interpret an excess of either one as a threat, but icing is more threatening and when brains think there’s a threat, they may also amp up the pain. Ice seems to be feel more threatening to most people.

Trigger points (painfully sensitive spots) can be surprisingly intense and easily mistaken for “iceable” injury and inflammation. But if you ice trigger points, they may burn and ache even more acutely. This mistake is made particularly often with low back pain and neck pain — the very conditions people often try to treat with ice.

Heat and inflammation are the other particularly bad combination.

How to use Ice

After an acute injury, such as an ankle sprain, or after activities that aggravate a chronic injury, such as shin splints.

Use an ice bag with cubed ice, ice pack or ice massage. When using an ice pack that does not have real ice cubes,use a thin towel between the ice pack and the skin to prevent frostbite.

Do not use ice longer than 20 minutes at a time. More time spent icing does not mean more relief. Be sure the area goes numb, then make sure the skin returns completely back to normal before reapplying.

How to apply heat

Before activities that aggravate​ chronic injuries, such as muscle strains. Heat can help loosen tissues and relax injured areas.

Apply heat using a heating pad or a hot wet towel.

No more than 20 minutes at a time. Never apply heat while sleeping. Be careful not to burn yourself.

To read more on First Aid, click on the link below.

First Aid

How to Remove Water from your Ear

How to Remove Water from your Ear by Famhealth

If water does get trapped in your ear, you can try several at-home remedies for relief:

Jiggle your earlobe

This first method may shake the water out of your ear right away. Gently tug or jiggle your earlobe while tilting your head in a downward motion toward your shoulder. You can also try shaking your head from side to side while in this position.

Make gravity do the work

With this technique, gravity should help the water drain from your ear.Lie on your side for a few minutes, with your head on a towel to absorb the water. The water may slowly drain out of your ear.

Create a vacuum

This method will create a vacuum that may draw the water out.

  • Tilt your head sideways, and rest your ear onto your cupped palm, creating a tight seal.
  • Gently push your hand back and forth toward your ear in a rapid motion, flattening it as you push and cupping it as you pull away.
  • Tilt your head down to allow the water to drain.

Apply a hot compress

  • Using hot but not scalding water, wet a washcloth. Make sure to wring out the washcloth before using it so that it doesn’t drip.
  • Tilt head downward on the affected side and apply the cloth to the outside of the ear. Leave it on the ear for about 30 seconds, and then remove it for a minute.
  • Repeat these steps four or five times. It may help to sit up or lie down on the side opposite of the affected side of your body afterward.

Use a blow dryer

The heat from the dryer can help evaporate the water inside the ear canal.

  • Set the blow dryer to its lowest setting.
  • Hold the hair dryer about a foot away from the ear and move it in a back-and-forth motion.
  • While tugging down on the earlobe, let the warm air blow into the ear.

Try alcohol and vinegar eardrops

The alcohol can help evaporate the water in your ear. Alcohol also works to eliminate the growth of bacteria, which can help prevent infection. If the trapped water occurs due to earwax buildup, the vinegar may help remove it.

  • Combine equal parts alcohol and vinegar to make eardrops.
  • Using a sterile dropper, apply three or four drops of this mixture into the ear.
  • Gently rub the outside of the ear.
  • Wait 30 seconds, and tilt the head sideways to let the solution drain out.

Use hydrogen peroxide eardrops

Hydrogen peroxide can help clear debris, earwax, bacteria, or trapped water from your ear.

  • Using a clean dropper, place three to four drops of hydrogen peroxide into your ear.
  • Wait two to three minutes.
  • Tilt the affected side downward, allowing the fluid to drain out.

Don’t use this method if you think you have any of these conditions:

  • an outer ear infection, perforated eardrum and eardrum tubes.

Try olive oil

Olive oil can also help prevent ear infection, as well as repel water out.

  • Warm some olive oil in a small bowl.
  • Using a clean dropper, place a few drops of the oil into the affected ear.
  • Lie on the  other side for about 10 minutes, and then sit up and tilt the ear downward. The water and oil should drain out.

Yawn or chew

When water gets stuck, moving your mouth can sometimes help to open the tubes. Yawn or chew gum to relieve tension in your Eustachian tubes.

Perform the Valsalva maneuver

This method can also help open closed eustachian tubes. Be careful not to blow too hard. This can damage your ear drum.

  • Close your mouth and gently squeeze your nostrils shut with your fingers.
  • Breathe deeply, and slowly blow the air out of the nose. If popping sound noticed,  it means the Eustachian tubes have opened.
  • Tilt your head to allow the water to drain from your ear.

Use steam

Warm steam can help release water from your middle ear through your eustachian tubes. Try taking a hot shower, or giving yourself a mini sauna with a bowl of hot water.

  • Fill a large bowl with hot steaming water.
  • Cover your head with a towel to keep the steam in, and hold your face over the bowl.
  • Inhale the steam for 5 or 10 minutes, and then tilt your head to the side to drain your ear.
  • 12. Try more water

This technique may sound illogical, but it can actually help draw water out of your ear.

  • Lying on your side, fill the affected ear with water using a clean dropper.
  • Wait five seconds and then turn over, with the affected ear facing down. All of the water should drain out.

To read more on First Aid, click on the link below.

First Aid