The guide to resuscitation from burns
Dowry
deaths, suicidal tendencies, electric burns, accidental burns, well these are
the commonly heard cases you read in the newspaper almost every other week ,
about a case which was subjected to a burn trauma. When one looks in to the
pictures of a case of burns patients, a person, weak at heart will probably be
traumatised for life.
Well, instead of succumbing to the human fearful terrors,
the rather right thing to do is make efforts to help out the victim of this
dreadful accident. Here are a few basic resuscitation measures you need to know
whenever you encounter such a situation:
-
CALL
102 !! In case there’s a fire tragedy, dial 101!
-
Introduce cool water on this fresh burn: when cold water
flows on the affected tissue, the local temperature reduces which helps in
reducing inflammation. Alternatively, one can place a damp towel on the injured
part.
-
Protect the burned victims from any further harm-
Take the
victim away from the site of injury. In case of continuous burns , throw a
splash of water right at the victim.
Don’t make an attempt to separate the clothes from the body.
-
DO NOT use other fluids to provide the necessary relief
As
stupid as it sounds, there’s been a common history of cases resorting to this
idea. The idea of applying soft drinks
in such patients isn’t infrequent and they should make sure such measures are
not taken. The soft drinks usually have a high sugar content which is nothing
but an excellent media for bacteria to grow and infection to prosper. Applying
sand on the burnt area is also a common practice because it is believed that the
calcium carbonate from the soil helps in stabilising the injury. That is true
but it also comes with the dreadful risk of infection, and thus best be
avoided.
Remove all tight appendages
- Any tight items such as rings, wrist bands, other jewellery etc
should be taken out as soon as possible. This avoids development of swelling
-
Retain those blisters-
The small ones, especially the ones smaller
than your fingernails have to be preserved.
In case they break, apply some antibiotic ointment after washing it with
soap. The pain inferred needs to be dealt with because this step is important
in preventing infection
-
Apply a moisturizer or an aloe vera gel- this is simply a
symptomatic reliever, which gives a cooling sensation of to the injured area.
These are the basic measures you need to take before the
ambulance arrives. Mean while the breathing and the circulation needs to be
checked by noticing the respiration and checking the pulse. Burn cases are an
emergency , the only exception being when it’s a minor burn. The smaller the
delay for hospitalisation , the better the prognosis.
