First Aid, dos and don'ts

[luckykaa]

I read about a homeless guy helping out after the Manchester bombing. He talked about how he had to pull nails and bits of glass out of people. and this is something we always see in this sort of atrocity. A lot of people want to help.

He was a good guy and had the best of intentions, but my first thought was that he really shouldn't have done that. Removing shards from injuries can make them worse.

And I think it's important to be aware of this stuff.

• Don't remove shrapnel from wounds.
• Don't move people unless they're in danger.
• In case of severe bleeding, apply pressure directly to the wound. Use clean bandages if available. Don't use a tourniquet.
• Do try to get people into the recovery position.

More generally - other mistakes I've heard people make:

• Don't remove helmets from motorbike crash victims.
• Don't put yourself in danger.
• People are not going to "swallow their tongues". This isn't possible. To prevent the tongue restricting airways, roll the body onto the side
• If people are in danger and you can do so safely, remove the source of danger. If you can't then move the person out of the way.

To be honest, I think most people reading this already know this. Most of this is common sense. Still, people do make mistakes. An occasional reminder can't hurt.