Real Emergency or not – think before you call

FirstAidMike
  • Ambulance with blue lights for real emergency

Getting treatment

We’re all worried by the thought of not getting prompt emergency treatment because of Covid-19.

With pressure on the emergency services mounting due to the pandemic, you need to be sure what help you need, before calling an 999.

We all think our needs are greatest, but by checking the obvious, before we call, can help everyone in a real emergency.

But before we do anything, you need to do is make sure everyone’s safe, and that all dangers are under control.

Is it a real emergency?

Is the situation life-threatening?

  • Are they breathing?
  • Are they conscious?
  • Are they bleeding and how much blood are they losing? Is it spurting from the wound?
  • Is it a child in trouble?

Anyone unconscious and not breathing is in cardiac arrest and clinically dead. This is a real emergency, you must act now to try and save their life. Now is definitely the time to call 999

What can you do?

Unconscious and not breathing

Knowing CPR will help but it’s only a temporary solution you need access to an AED defibrillator. This is a real emergency.

The call handler at 999 will tell you where the nearest AED is and the code to access the cabinet.

They will also stay on the line until the paramedics take over and will talk you through everything from CPR to using the defibrillator.

Help with using a defibrillator is rarely necessary because it will tell you what to do.

We recommend putting your phone on speaker, so you can stay in contact, whilst using two hands.

Unconscious but breathing

You need to make sure their airway is unobstructed and they are breathing freely. This could be a real emergency but may just be a faint.

If so leave them where they are, unless they are in danger or a risk of the airway becoming compromised.

You only need to put the person on their side in the recovery position if there’s a real danger of the airway becoming blocked.

Choking

Hopefully you can expect the emergency services to react quickly. Yes a real emergency but try these steps first.

  1. Ask them if they’re choking – they’ll probably nod frantically and point to their throat
  2. Support them and ask if they can cough – if not
  3. Tell them you are going to slap them between the shoulder blades 5 times – if this works reassure them
  4. If not tell them you’ll give them 5 abdominal thrusts
  5. Still nothing NOW call the ambulance and be prepared to start CPR if they stop breathing

Bleeding

Slipped carving the turkey and there’s a lot of blood.

If it’s just the hand involved you can probably deal with it and take the person to hospital. Call 111 if you need reassurance

If necessary take the person to hospital after you’ve controlled the bleed, but this is unlikely to be a real emergency.

You can normally control bleeding with pressure. A relatively simple cut from a knife should respond well.

Ideally use a clean sterile dressing an apply pressure to the source of the bleed for 10 minutes

After that, try to elevate the limb above the heart.

Could be they’ve slipped, with the cut to the neck or groin, the blood is spurting out of the wound in time with the heartbeat, this is life-threatening and needs an ambulance. Call 999

Maybe there’s something embedded in the wound, glass or metal, don’t try to remove it

Above all keep pressure on the sides and get the person to hospital.

Treating cuts and grazes

Burns and Scalds

All types of heat can potentially cause burns.

To be clear burns can be hot or cold, wet or dry. Wet burns are usually called scalds.

Touching an iron or oven tray quickly, leaving the skin unbroken red, inflamed and tender, is a superficial burn, like sunburn, painful, but not a reason to call 999

Any burn that breaks the skin or forms a blister is serious and is called a partial thickness burn. Very often burns result in shock, which can be life-threatening. If you’re worried call 111, they may decide you need an ambulance.

Because liquids and steam, flow, scalds are more likely to affect a larger area. So tell the call handler the size of the burn. It’s a good idea to relate the size to how big the palm of the person’s hand is.

Someone with severe burns or full thickness burns where clothing has melted into the flesh or the skin is like cooked meat, is definitely 999

 

 

Small, shiny and deadly

FirstAidMike # # # # # # # #

Toys and Gadgets

Nearly all toys for infants and early years children seem to need a battery to make them work, very often coin batteries.

So it’s important to make sure the batteries are all safely fitted and secured before the Christmas morning rush to unwrap presents.

Christmas Eve

Anyone who’s had children will know that late night session wrapping up all those presents.

Rolls of foil wrap, uncontrollable sticky tape and trying to write legibly on the gift tags while well lubricated with mulled wine and mince pies.

It’s easy to forget putting the batteries in these toys and devices, or maybe you don’t want to open the packaging before the children have the chance.

Leaving it until Christmas morning, when you open the presents  could be a dangerous strategy.

Because you’re distracted, lots of things going on and several children looking for attention, things happen.

They want to get on with using their toys. The batteries are fiddly and easily lost in the sea of ripped wrapping paper.

Exploring a new world

All young children explore their surroundings, sucking, licking and tasting everything that they can fit in their mouths. Experiencing the flavours and textures associated with the new world they find themselves in.baby secure battery pack

Tiny, shiny, silver coin batteries look inviting, so from a child’s viewpoint. It takes a fraction of a second to lift a carelessly discarded or misplaced button battery into their mouth and potentially swallow it.

Maybe, they’ve seen an older sibling with one of the foil encased chocolate coins we hang on the Christmas Tree. They’re unaware the older child has discarded the foil and only eaten the chocolate filling.

Encouraged by this, a toddler may try one of these bright shiny coins, copying the older child by slipping it into their mouth.

This is why it’s so important that coin batteries are only handled by responsible adults.

Coin Batteries Powerplay

If you’ve bought a gift which needs power from these tiny objects. Always ensure the battery is secured behind a casing with a locking screw or child-proof clip. If it doesn’t have one the toy or game is not safe and is not approved by the UK standards authorities.toy with screw battery cover

Many types of devices have coin batteries inside, but because you don’t regard them as toys the covers are only slide locked. Some of the less secure items are bathroom and kitchen scales or remote controls and key fobs which come with less secure means of locking the battery inside.

Small, shiny and deadly

Keeping any batteries, especially coin batteries, in a safe locked drawer or in a high cupboard, makes sense. You should also keep unused and sealed packs out of reach. Once they’re dead you should put them in a secure place until they can be safely disposed of.

The scariest part, and one not always considered, is that even when the batteries are dead, they can still do the same damage; the little residual power left can still be enough to kill.

These batteries are truly dangerous. They can kill a child in hours, or do the most horrendous internal damage, resulting in life changing consequences.

And never forget coin batteries are a choking risk too.

Make sure all your devices and toys are safe.

The should have either the CE mark or UKCA mark printed or moulded into the product.CE mark on battery cover

Also look for a UK address on the product. A UK address means someone company is taking responsibility for the importation of the goods and that it is compliant with UK safety regulations.

For more information listen to the Child Accident Prevention Trust webinar about dangerous toys here.

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First Aid Certificate renewal Coronavirus validity extension

FirstAidMike

Announcement by the Health & Safety Executive

Is your First Aid Certificate due to expire shortly?

Do you hold one of these qualifications?

  • First Aid at Work (FAW)
  • Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW)
  • Paediatric First Aid
  • Emergency Paediatric First Aid

Is your renewal due on or after 16th March 2020 and you are unable to renew because of Covid-19 restrictions?

The Health and Safety Executive have announced a 3 month validity extension, covering the above qualifications due for renewal on or after 16th March 2020

The HSE will be closely reviewing this guidance over coming months and updating it accordingly.

HSE’s current guidance on the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981:  https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l74.pdf

Stay well in the heat

FirstAidMike # # # # #

High temperatures are forecast for this weekend, making it essential to stay well in the heat and avoid dehydration.

The human body relies on water to maintain a healthy fluid volume and chemical balance.

This is why it’s essential to drink plenty when exercising or in hot weather.

During the festival and holiday season, it’s easy to forget to drink, with all the distractions or simply drink the wrong things.

Alcohol and high caffeine drinks don’t help, in fact they can easily increase you dehydration, leading to serious heat related conditions.

Simple steps to avoid Dehydration

When your body loses more fluid than it takes in you can easily become dehydrated, either from sweating due to heat or exercise, not necessarily just from being in a hot environment.

How will you know you’re becoming dehydrated

  • You’ll be thirsty
  • Your mouth and lips will be dry
  • You may feel dizzy and confused
  • Your urine will be dark coloured
  • You will be passing less urine than normal

What can you do to help?

  • Stop all physical activity
  • You should move to a shady place, ideally in a cool breeze
  • Drink plenty of fluids, avoiding alcohol and caffeine rich drinks, since these will increase dehydration
  • Loosen and remove any unnecessary clothing
  • Continue to re-hydrate throughout the day possible using re-hydration fluids

If you think you’ve become dehydrated make sure you watch for the signs and symptoms of Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

and always remember, if you’re in doubt call the NHS helpline 111.

Ambush in the Undergrowth

FirstAidMike

Ambush in the undergrowth

Spring is when we all start to think about getting out into nature, but be alert for an ambush.

Enjoying long walks in the forest or out across open heath land is a great way to spend time and breathe fresh air.

However, lurking in the undergrowth there is a tiny eight-legged creature waiting to ambush you and your pets.

The tick

The tick is a parasite looking to latch onto a nice healthy blood supply for a meal and they love warm moist bodies.

As you walk through the bracken, they will attach themselves to you, often making their way to scalp, armpits or groin areas.

Once they’ve found their ideal “camp site”, they’ll bite into your skin, injecting a type of local anaesthetic, so you probably won’t feel a thing, then start to feed.

Because they’ll have chosen their feeding ground well, you probably won’t notice them for some time and that’s when the real danger occurs.

Ticks carry a bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi which causes Lyme Disease, this usually enters the host after the tick has been attached between 36 and 48 hours.

Lyme Disease is an infectious disease and in its early stages causes, tiredness and fatigue. It can make you feel sick, produce muscle and joint pain with a high temperature, chills and neck stiffness.

Once established, after 3 to 30 days, the site of the bite will develop a distinctive circular “bullseye” rash.

Bulls-eye Rash

Joints will become swollen and painful; the limbs and extremities feel numb and the facial muscles can become paralysed.

Over time, people who have developed Lyme Disease, may well have heart and memory problems.

This is why it’s important to identify tick bites early and get appropriate treatment.

What can you do if bitten?

As with all first aid, start with your own protection, put on disposable gloves, if you’re treating someone else, you’ll be in contact with blood.

Your best way to remove a tick is with a special tick removal tool, this will disengage the tick without leaving any mouth-parts in the bite site.

By sliding the tool under the tick from the side like a claw hammer removing a nail until it’s held securely.

Lift it slightly away from the skin and twist the tool 2 or 3 rotations, either way, until the tick detaches itself.

If you don’t have a tick removal tool you can use fine tipped tweezers.

Gently grip the tick as close to the skin as possible and very slowly pull the tick upwards. Don’t crush the tick, or you’ll leave head and mouth-parts embedded, which can cause infection.

Once the tick’s removed disinfect the site of the bite well.

If the site remains red and swollen seek medical advice for treatment.

Never use a cigarette or flame to remove a tick.

How to protect yourself from tick bites

If you’re planning to walk in long grass, bracken or in forest and heath land.

  • Don’t wear shorts
  • Tuck trousers into socks
  • Stick to footpaths rather than walking through long vegetation
  • Brush down your clothes
  • Consider using an insect repellent
  • Check yourself when you shower at the end of the day. Especially, under the arms, in and around the ears, in the tummy button, backs of knees, in and around the hair, between your legs and around the waist.
  • Find out more by attending an Outdoor Activity First Aid Course

An Airtight Seal

FirstAidMike

The Cork – an airtight seal

– a simple piece of tree bark shaped to form an airtight seal for a bottle of wineWine cork

Designed to keep the wine in and the air out.

Makes a very effective plug

 

 

 

CorkscrewCork removed from bottle

– A simple device makes removing a cork easy

Will extract a cork effectively in seconds

Making access to your favourite tipple simple

 

 

Chocolate mini eggs

– a small sugar coated chocolate sweetChocolate mini Egg

Ideally shaped to form an airtight seal in child’s airway

Becomes sticky in the mouth and dissolves very slowly

Which makes them very difficult to remove

Unfortunately, there’s no useful tool like a corkscrew to remove these and that airtight seal will be difficult to break

What should you do if they’re choking?

Choking Hazard

Always look for manufacturers danger warnings on the packs Warning text

Never leave your child unattended with small objects

 

Some other equally dangerous objects:

Carrot rounds, coins, toy parts, coin batteries*

Mini eggs and small objects can kill a child in minutes

Would you know how to help a choking child? What to do.

Learn Basic Lifesaving skills now it could be your child you save

*Batteries are even more dangerous, they can burn through internal tissues causing irreparable damage to airways and digestive tract