First Aid
An immediate treatment which is
given to the person who met with an accident
before going to the doctor known as first
aid.
Ø Heat/Sun Stroke
·
Skin is not only protective in function but also
sensitive supplied with blood vessels.
·
When the temperature is high, thermo receptors
stimulates and results in increasing the blood flow to the skin.
·
Then the glands (sweat) extract water and salts
from the blood and produces more sweat.
·
When sweat evaporates due to heat, it cools the
body.
·
In winter, blood supply to the glands are
reduced and sweating is reduced which helps in retaining body temperature
normal.
Ø Effects from Heat / Sun stroke
·
Dehydration
When a person exposed to hot conditions,
several changes occurs in the body, hence sweating increases, and excreted from
the body.
Treatment
ü Move
the person to a cool place.
ü Give
cool water for drinking.
·
Heat
syncope
When a person working in hot conditions near
furnaces, boilers, stoves or in hot sun may faint suddenly.
Treatment
ü Move
the person to a cool place.
ü Allow
to rest.
ü Cool
water/fruit juices should be given.
·
Heat
cramps
By working in
hot conditions some people complains severe pain and cramps in the legs due to
loss of Nacl from the body in the
form of sweat.
Treatment
ü Person
must stop to work.
ü Shifting
to the cool place.
ü Giving
cold water with a little salt dissolved in it.
ü Slow
and gentle massage relieves the cramps.
·
Heat
exhaustion
When the
person working in hot conditions for a long time, leads to the loss of Nacl/water/both.
§ Water loss
Person complains about intense thirst and
fever and finally leads to unconscious and goes into comma.
Treatment
ü Move
the person to a cool place.
ü Giving
large quantities of cool water/fruit juices.
ü Person
unable to drink, give glucose solution directly into blood vessels (done by
doctors).
§ Salt loss
Person complains of muscle camps, vomiting
and diarrhoea but not thirst and fever.
Treatment
ü Move
him to a cool place.
ü Give
cool water with salt.
ü Salt
tablets may also be given
ü If
the person unable to drink, take him to the doctor for treatment.
·
Sun
stroke
§ Usually
seen in summer due to hot sun.
§ Patient
initially suffers from head ache, dizziness, visual disturbances and fever (105-107 ⁰F).
§ Blood
pressure will be lower than the normal, no sweating from the body
§ If
not treated at this stage, person goes into comma and may be die (because of
heat controlling mechanism failure).
Treatment
ü
Move him to a cool place.
ü
Remove the clothes and cover the body with a wet
towel/cloth, it reduces the body temperature.
ü
Process should be continued till the body
temperature, reduced to 101-102⁰F
and give rest till body temperature becomes normal.First Aid
Snake bite
All snakes which we are seeing are not poisonous, only few of
them are poisonous. The snakes which live in water, on trees and on land are
poisonous to small animals but not to man. Sea snakes are highly poisonous.
Common Poisonous Snakes
|
Common
Name
|
Scientific
Name
|
Affects
|
|
Indian cobra
|
Naja naja
|
Nervous Sysytem
|
|
King cobra
|
Ophiophagus hanna
|
Nervous Sysytem
|
|
Indian krait
|
Bungarus coeruleus
|
Nervous Sysytem
|
|
Banded krait
|
Bungarus fasciatus
|
Nervous Sysytem
|
|
Saw scaled viper
|
Echis carinata
|
Ciculatory system
|
|
Rusell’s viper
|
Vipera russeli
|
Ciculatory system
|
|
Sea snake
|
Hydrophis articeps
|
Paralyses
|
|
Sea snake( Porked)
|
Enhydrina schistose
|
Parylyses
|
ü
Toxins:
chemical substances present in the snake venom.
ü
Neurotoxins:
toxins which affects the nervous system.
If venom contains
neurotoxins, symptoms like drooping of eye lids, faulty speech, unsteady
walking, breathing trouble and even paralysis can be seen in about 2hrs after
bite.
ü
Haemolytic
toxins: toxins which affects the blood vessels and blood cells, they
rupture the walls of blood vessels and cells (RBC).
If venom contains haemolytic toxins, symptoms
like severe blood loss, local swelling and severe pain. Due to the loss of
blood, heart functioning may even stop.
Ø Identification
of Poisonous & Non- poisonous Snakes
Before treating, one should know that the
bite is due to poisonous/non-poisonous snake.
Ø Poisonous snake bite: it leaves 1 or 2 fang marks which look like a pin
pricks on the body.
o Symptoms
o Blood
and serum oozes out of the wound.
o Severe
pain, numbness, tingling sensation and local swelling, redness is observed.
o
Non-poisonous
snake bite: Gives a shape of U. o Symptoms
o Blood
comes out and clots outside the site.
o Primarily
intense pain, numbness, tingling sensation local swelling, redness are observed.
Ø Treatment
·
Person must be allowed to rest and shifted to a
less crowded place.
·
The venom which is outside the site of injury
should be viped with a wet cloth.
·
Bandage/cloth must be applied tightly above the
bite towards the direction of heart, called as tourniquet. This will reduces
the flow of blood towards heart and distribution of poison.
·
If no medical help is available, a cut is made
with sterilized blade. After that blood should be sucked out. This process can
remove 50% of venom.
·
Breathing
problem: Mouth to mouth respiration.
·
Sucking
blood: Without any injuries on lips and mouth.
Ø Anti-snake venoms
·
Anti-venom comes in the form of powder.
·
Before use, it is dissolved in sterile distilled
water and injected into the veins.
·
Antibodies present in the anti-venom bind to the
toxins of the venom and neutralize it.
·
If snake is identified, antivenom of particular
snake venom is given. If not, polyvalent-anti-venom is injected.
·
Giving mild sedative and drugs tp prevent shock
reactions.
Ø About snake bites
·
About 15,000 people die due to snakebites in our
country.
·
This is due to ignorance, superstitious and lack
of proper medical facilities.
·
Some will show belief that mantras will cure the
snake bites; it leads to delay in giving proper medical care.
| 
