In any survival situation, first aid knowledge can come very handy. The correct use of first aid can make a huge difference for the person who is hanging between life and death. Knowing the correct first aid skills can help you and your family in any survival situation where you are not able to find any professional help. Complete presence of mind and making quick decisions and acting vigilantly upon your decisions are the most important factors of the knowledge about first aid. Keep this in mind that in any emergency situation you have to exclude your fear to act efficiently in order to aid properly. We all have bits of knowledge about first aid but do we really have the correct amount of information to help someone in crisis. Below are some common mistakes explained that we need to correct when applying our skills in a situation.
1. When you have a temperature, don’t make yourself sweat:
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When you are shivering and feeling hot at the same time at the time of your sickness, it means that your body temperature is high and might rise above normal value. Moreover, when you try to warm yourself due to shivering you body temperature increase more at quite a high rate. Heat, although has the ability to fight infections but when your body temperature goes beyond 38°С it can cause much harm to your body. If you are experiencing shakes with hot temperature you need to cool it down rather than covering yourself up.
2. Don’t put anything in the mouth of a person who’s experiencing an epileptic fit:
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During a fit, if you put something in the mouth of the person you can break their teeth. An epileptic person can not bite off their tongue since it is strained by a great force. Though they can bite it slightly, it won’t cause any immense harm. The thing you can do is place something soft under the head of the person experiencing an epileptic fit, as this will help the person to avoid any serious damage to their skull. When the fits are over, turn the person onto their side.
3. Don’t apply cream when you burn your skin:
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When the skin experiences some degrees of burning it doesn’t only damage the surface but it goes deep till the tissues of the body. Instead of applying cream to the surface only, the best thing you can do is place the burnt area in cold water for about 15 minutes. This will dissipate the heat which penetrated deep inside. Do not apply anything on it straight away, all it will do is trap the excess heat and the pain won’t go away. Apply any cream long after 20 minutes, then it would be beneficial.
4. Don’t drag someone injured without medical professionals present:
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When you see an accident, do not try to remove the injured person out of the vehicle by yourself. It will make things worse for the injured person as you might rupture some artery and he might bleed to death. On the other hand, you can only take out the person if the vehicle is on fire and there is no other option but to drag the person out. All you need to do is call the ambulance instead or you can cut the power to the engine and stop bleeding if there is any and try to calm the victim in the process.
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5. If someone’s choking, don’t pat them on the back:
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When someone is choking on to something do not try to pat on their back. It will only make things worse and you might cause whatever they are chocking on to pass towards their windpipe which will cause breathing difficulties. Help the person to lean over and ask them to stay calm and tell them to breathe slowly 2-3 times. This will ease the chocking and will help them to bring the object back up which is blocking their airways.
6. Don’t try to draw out the tongue when someone’s fallen unconscious:
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When someone is fallen unconscious it is dangerous for them to stay on their back, as the tongue can fall back and might block their windpipe and it can be hard for them to breath. To avoid such happening just roll over the person on their side or try to move their head backward. Plus you should never pull the tongue out of their mouths.
7. Don’t apply a tourniquet to a wound if there isn’t any arterial bleeding:
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When the cut is too deep that it damages your arteries, the blood won’t come out as a tickle but it will come out as a fountain of blood because blood is pumped at high speed in the arteries. That is why it is easy to spot an arterial bleeding. In such a case what you need to do is press the wound in either your armpit or in the groin, ASAP! Draw your limbs closer while using a belt or tourniquet. Applying a tourniquet to a venous wound will drain much blood out in a way that it could not be reversed.
8. Don’t rub frostbitten parts of the body:
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When you try to rub the frostbitten parts you can easily damage your capillaries which can only worsen the situation. Hot water too is a radical way to apply in such a situation. Warm the affected parts slowly if you have been frostbitten then place your hands in cold water, making your temperature rise.
9. Evaluate your strength and think logically before you try to help someone:
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In the case of emergencies, you should also consider your safety too. You should think before taking some radical actions and you should try and help others only in the situation when you are most certain that you won’t cause any further harms. In case of when someone is being electrified, there is a chance that other than affected person other people can also get hurt. In this situation try to find the source of power and cut it off or use a wooden object to save yourself and the victim too.
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Article by Born Realist