Health: Unintentional Injuries PDF

**UNINTENTIONAL INJURIES** **What are Unintentional Injuries?** - Unintentional injuries are sometimes called accidental injuries. An accident is a sequence of unexpected events that could result to injury, property damage, and even death. - Examples of these accidents are vehicular a...

**UNINTENTIONAL INJURIES** **What are Unintentional Injuries?** - Unintentional injuries are sometimes called accidental injuries. An accident is a sequence of unexpected events that could result to injury, property damage, and even death. - Examples of these accidents are vehicular accidents, poisoning, drowning, and household fires **What is safety education?** - Safety education includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes that could help minimize or avoid risks or dangers at home, school, community, and in any situations. **What is first aid?** - It is the immediate care given to a person who has been injured or suddenly taken ill. It includes self-help and home catre if medical assistance is not available or is delayed. **Objectives of First Aid:** - To lessen the pain - To prevent further injury or danger - To preserve life - To hasten recovery - **A [first aider] is trained personnel who provides first aid. Since accidents or unintentional injury may happen anytime, you must learn the basics of first aid.** **What are the things that the first aider must take into consideration when assessing the injury of the victim?** **PRIMARY SURVEY** -- This is a quick and systematic survey of the person to find out if there are conditions or injuries sustained as life threatening 1. **Check for consciousness** - Check for the victim's response by touching him/her on the shoulder. Shout, "Hey, are you OK?" twice. Then, check for any movement. - If unresponsive, immediately activate emergency medical service. Call 117 (Philippine Emergency Code) or the contact number of the nearest hospital. 2. **Check for pulse (circulation)** - If the first aider does not feel a pulse within 10 seconds, start chest compressions. (Adult and child, check carotid pulse. Infant, check brachial pulse). 3. **Compression, Airway, and Breathing (CAB)** - C.A.B. is a sequence in facilitating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) which is a technique in lifesaving especially when a person's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. **For adults, the following should be informed during CPR:** - Kneel beside the victim\'s chest, and place the heel of one hand over the heel of the other hand in the middle of the chest. - Keep your elbows straight, and position your shoulders directly above your hands to make the best use of your weight. Avoid compressing the chest with your fingers, for this can damage the ribs of the victim. - Push down with steady, firm thrusts, compressing the chest 1-2 inches at a rate of about 100 times a minute. The pushing down and letting up phase of each cycle should be equal in duration. Avoid jabbing. **For children ages 1-8, the following modifications apply:** - Use one hand rather than both hands. Compress the chest to about one-third to one-half of its depth. **For infants, the following modifications apply:** - Cover the baby\'s mouth and nose with your mouth, and deliver a rescue breath. Check if the chest is rising. - Compress the chest one-half to one inch, using only two fingers. **4. Open the Airway (all ages)** - Position the victim facing up on a firm surface. - Open the airway by gently tilting the head back with one hand and lifting the chin with the other. - Look, listen, and feel for breathing. It should take no more than 10 seconds. - If breathless, begin rescue breathing. **5. Begin Rescue Breathing** - Take a normal breath before each rescue breath. Each rescue breath should last for a second. Make sure the chest falls between rescue breaths. - Give two rescue breaths that will make the chest rise, for every thirty chest compressions. - If the chest does not rise, readjust the head tilt and chin lift positions and ventilate again until you see the chest rise. - If the person\'s chest does not rise despite positioning, suspect an obstruction. **SECONDARY SURVEY --** Secondary survey is the systematic method of gathering additional information pertaining to the victim\'s injuries. It is a more detailed and thorough examination to determine the extent of injury or illness. **Valuable information are as follow:** 1. **PASAC** - Patient's name - Age - Sex/Gender - Address - Contact number 2. **Vital signs** - Temperature - Pulse rate - Respiratory rate - Blood pressure - Pain 3. **Sample history (medical cases)** - Signs and symptoms - Allergies - Medication - Past/present medical history - Last oral intake - Events leading to injury 4. **Head-to-toe examination (trauma cases)** - Deformity - Contusion - Abrasion - Puncture - Burns - Tenderness - Laceration - Swelling **Dressings and Bandages** - Wounds should be dressed and bandaged after bleeding is controlled. - Proper wound care enhances healing, comforts the victim, and helps in fast recovery. - Improper wound care can cause infection and may even result in loss of body parts. **Dressing** -- A dressing is a special material that is used to cover a wound (Merriam-Webster). It is intended to control bleeding, prevent infection, absorb blood, drain and protect the wound from further injury. **Principles of Wound Dressing** 1\. Wash your hands properly. 2\. Use a dressing large enough to extend beyond the wound edges. Place it directly over the wound. 3\. Cover the dressing with a bandage. **Bandaging** - A bandage is a strip of fabric used to dress and bind up wounds. It should be clean and sterile. - Bandaging Techniques for Unintentional Injuries Bandaging is done to hold a dressing in place, to apply pressure over a wound, and to support a limb and immobilize it. - Avoid applying bandages too tightly to ensure adequate blood supply to the injured part. If there is no pulse below the limb and the skin turns cold and bluish, loosen the bandage. **The parts of a triangular bandage are as follow** - Base - longest side - Point - corner opposite the base - End - other two corners - **Triangular Bandage** - commonly used to support fractures and dislocations This can be used to form slings and cravats. - When using a triangular bandage as a sling or cravat, use a square or reef knot to keep it secure and prevent it from slipping off. **Cravat Bandage** - It is a folded triangular bandage. It is used to hold splints in place for stabilizing an injured arm. - It is used to apply pressure evenly over a dressing and as a blinder around then body of the victim. **Bandaging Techniques**