Illustrated First Aid Guide - Marcia Wendorf [17]
The outcome of an electrocution is dependent on how high the voltage is, how the current traveled through the victim’s body, the victim’s overall health, and how quickly the person is treated.
Call for emergency assistance if any of these symptoms appear:
• Cardiac arrest
• Heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias)
• Respiratory failure
• Muscle pain and contractions
• Seizures
• Numbness and tingling
• Unconsciousness
Treatment:
1. Do not immediately touch the victim. Examine them first to make sure they are no longer in contact with the electrical source. Touching a victim still in contact with the source will pass the current on through you.
2. If possible, turn off the source of the electricity. If not possible, move the source away from both you and the victim using a dry, non-conducting object made of cardboard, plastic or wood.
3. Don’t get near high-voltage wires until the power is turned off. Stay at least 20 feet away or farther if the wires are jumping and sparking.
4. Don’t move a victim unless they are in immediate danger.
5. Call for emergency medical assistance immediately if the victim is: in pain, confused, is experiencing changes in their breathing, heartbeat or consciousness.
6. Check for signs of breathing and circulation. If absent, begin CPR immediately.
7. Prevent shock by laying the victim down with their head slightly lower than their trunk and their legs elevated.
8. Cover burned areas with a sterile gauze bandage, if available, or with a clean cloth. Do not use a blanket or towel because loose fibers from these can stick to the burn.
Sunburn
Symptoms of sunburn usually appear within a few hours of exposure and include: pain, redness, swelling and occasional blistering. Because sunburn usually affects a large area of skin, it can cause headache, fever and fatigue.
Do not put petroleum jelly, butter or other home remedies on a sunburn, they can prevent or delay healing. Seek medical attention if the sunburn begins to blister, or the victim gets a rash, itching or fever.
Treatment:
1. Take a cool bath adding 1/2 cup of cornstarch, oatmeal or baking soda to the bath water to soothe the skin.
2. Apply an aloe vera lotion several times a day.
3. Don’t burst any blisters, if they break on their own, apply an antibacterial ointment.
4. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as aspirin, ibuprofen naproxen or acetaminophen for pain. Never give aspirin to children.
Chest
Contents
Chest
Chest Wall Pain
A harmless kind of chest pain is chest wall pain called costochondritis. It is pain and tenderness in the cartilage connecting the ribs to the breastbone (sternum).
To determine if a victim has costochondritis, press at a few points along the margin of the sternum. If this results in considerable pain and tenderness limited to those small areas, the victim most likely has chest wall pain rather than a heart attack.
Chest wall pain can also be caused by:
• Strained chest muscles from exercise or excessive coughing
• Chest muscle bruising from minor trauma such as a car accident
• Acute anxiety with rapid breathing
• Pain from the gastrointestinal tract, such as esophageal reflux, peptic ulcer, or gallbladder.
Pneumonia and Pleurisy
Symptoms of pneumonia are chest pain accompanied by chills, fever and a cough that may produce bloody or foul-smelling sputum. When pneumonia is accompanied by an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the lung, the pleura, the condition is called pleurisy.
Pleurisy’s symptoms include considerable chest discomfort when inhaling or coughing. A significant sign of pleurisy is that the chest pain is relieved temporarily when the victim holds their breath, or when pressure is put on the painful area of their chest. This is not true of a heart attack.
Treatment:
1. Pleurisy by itself is not considered a medical emergency.
2. If cough, fever or chills accompany your chest pain, see your doctor.
Pulmonary Embolism
An embolus is an accumulation of foreign material, usually a blood clot, that blocks an artery. The tissue supplied