First Aid Emergency for Burns

Fires are more common than most of us imagine. I hate to think about what I would do should my kid get burned severely! Would I know what to do first?
In the event that there is a fire or an incident in which you sustain a thermal burn injury or injuries, there are many factors to consider depending upon the circumstances.
To begin with, if you are involved in a naked flame incident as a result of which your clothes are on fire, the first thing that you must do is put the fire out. If you are doing this for yourself, the normal recommendation is to ‘stop, drop and roll' to extinguish the flames.
If on the other hand it is someone else whose clothes are on fire, either encourage them to follow the same routine or try to wrap them in a blanket or large towel to extinguish the flames. This works even better if the blanket or towel is damp.
Once the flames had been extinguished, remove any burnt clothing and if at all possible, remove yourself or the person you are helping from the vicinity of risk if that has not happened already.
The next step is to try to bring the injured skin area under control but in doing this, you need to apply a degree of care. This is because whilst applying cool water to the burned area within the first 30 seconds or so can limit the severity and extent of the burn damage, the water cannot be too cold and you should certainly never use ice.
Water that is too cold or ice applied to a burn wound could potentially encourage hypothermia in a patient whose burn injury is sufficiently serious and deep. In addition, applying ice to the wounded area could worsen the extent of the damage as well. For these reasons, you should only use cool water.
Finally, when you are attending someone else who appears to have been badly burned, your main focus whilst waiting for the emergency services to arrive should be on keeping them both warm and still. As suggested previously, someone who has suffered third degree burns is in danger of losing body heat (particularly if the burns are extensive) and movement is not recommended.
These are just the steps you should take until the ambulance arrives!

Parenting Tips
, , , ,

Fire Safety Around The Home

One of the problems that we all have with home safety is that the everyday familiarity of our surroundings tends to blind us to potential danger spots. At the same time however, because danger could potentially lurk in every nook and cranny of the average home, trying to expunge the risk of getting burned completely is almost impossible.
On the other hand, there are many preventative measures that you can take around the house which will at least minimize the more obvious points of risk.
 
The first thing to realize is that in most homes, the greatest risk level as far as being burned is concerned lurks in the kitchen.
As a part of the normal routine of every average household, there will be pans boiling away on the stove, food in a hot oven, a kettle coming to the boil in the background and 101 other regular kitchen activities taking place that represent a potential burns danger spot.
At the same time, kitchens at mealtimes – which is inevitably the most dangerous time – are extremely busy places, with the cook or chef far more focused on getting the food ready than they are on safety.
 
If there are young children in the house, it is therefore imperative to keep them well away from the kitchen whenever it is at its busiest. In these circumstances, it is unlikely that youngsters serve any really useful purpose in any event, so it is just not necessary for them to be in an area where the danger of being burned or scalded literally surrounds them.
 
At the same time, you (or at least some other responsible adult) should always remain in the kitchen area when it is mealtime to ensure that everything is supervised and that the youngsters do not expose themselves to unnecessary danger.
 
As suggested earlier, chemical substances that are highly acid or alkaline represent a significant burns risk as well. If therefore you keep substances of this nature in the house (and in truth, you should question whether it is really necessary if you do so), they should be kept under lock and key.
 
Furthermore, even if these substances are only handled by responsible adults, it is still essential that they should take precautions such as wearing protective gloves and the like to minimize the risk of getting these ‘burns-waiting-to-happen' on your skin.
The next thing that should be on your own safety checklist is to ensure that your home wiring is up to scratch on a regular basis. It is obvious that there should be no exposed wires with which people can burn themselves but more than this, you need to have the wiring checked (preferably once a year) as in most homes, it is the wiring system that represents the biggest fire risk.
 

Parenting Tips
, , , , ,