Dr C’s check-up:
As many of us worry about unnecessary trips to the GP or hospital, knowing how to deal with some common medical emergencies is more important than ever. Dr Christian explains what to do if someone you love needs help
Protect your family with first aid
It’s always useful – pandemic or not – to know what to do if you’re faced with a medical emergency. People worry they might get it wrong, so here’s my guide on what to do in some typical emergencies.
REPLACE SALTS FOR HEAT EXHAUSTION
Heat exhaustion happens when someone loses too much salt from sweating in the heat. You don’t have to be out in the sun – you can suffer heat exhaustion indoors by doing too much on a hot day. It makes people feel sick, dizzy or confused, headachey and sweaty, but with pale, cool skin. Move them somewhere cool to rest and try to replace lost salts with an isotonic sports drink, or add a little salt to a glass of squash. Even if they recover, call 111 to check it was heat exhaustion, not heatstroke. If they worsen, call 999.
DAMPEN HEATSTROKE
Heatstroke happens when the body gets so hot it can’t control its temperature. Sufferers may have hot, flushed, dry skin, a headache, feel faint, or be confused and restless. If they become unresponsive, call 999.
Meanwhile, try to cool them down. Take off outer clothes and wrap them in a wet sheet, spray them with cool water and fan them, or put cold flannels on their skin. Keep cooling them while waiting for help to arrive.
PUT ICE ON BITES
If you get stung, you’ll usually be fine, unless you know you have an allergy. If you can see the sting, gently scrape it away using the edge of a credit card, or it could keep pumping in poison. Keep the puncture wound clean, and put ice on it to calm swelling. For stings in the mouth or throat, the main concern is to keep the airway open. If it starts swelling up, call an ambulance, but if not, suck an ice cube. If someone develops signs of a reaction – like a rash, itchiness or swelling or their breathing slows – call 999. Take an antihistamine if you have it, or if you carry an EpiPen, use it.
HELP SOMEONE IN TROUBLE IN THE WATER
If someone you know is drowning, don’t rush straight in to help if you’re a weak swimmer. Shout and wave your arms to attract attention from a lifeguard or a strong swimmer. Once they’re out of the water, ask someone to call an ambulance. Lie them on their back and shout their name to see if they respond. If not, listen to see if they’re breathing and look at their chest to see if it’s rising and falling. If not, tilt their chin back to help clear their airway and give them five rescue breaths. Pinch their nose and keep their head tilted back as you breathe into their mouth, making as good a seal as you can with your mouth over theirs. Take a deep breath between each rescue breath. After five, start chest compressions. Using both hands, one on top of the other, push down in the centre of their chest firmly, with your arms straight. Push down 5-6cm, twice a second, to the beat of Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees. Do 30 chest compressions, followed by two rescue breaths, over and over until they start breathing or help arrives. Then roll them into the recovery position, on their side, with their head tilted slightly back to keep their airway open. Children don’t just drown in the sea or pools, they can get into trouble in streams or even paddling pools, so never leave them unattended in water. At
the beach, always swim between the flags, but if you get caught in a rip tide, stay calm and float. If you can stand, wade out rather than swim; if not, swim across, parallel to the shore, until you’re free. If you need to catch your breath, float for a minute. Once out of the current, use waves to help you get back to the beach.
COPE WITH FAINTING
If you feel faint, you need to get your head lower than your heart. Sit with your head between your knees, or lay down with your feet in the air, as if your blood pressure drops, your heart isn’t pumping blood up to your brain very well. If someone else faints and falls, check if they’re breathing by seeing if their chest is rising and falling, and by listening for a breath. If they’re not, tilt their head back to free up their airway. People worry they’ll break someone’s neck if they move them, but you’ll probably do them more harm leaving them than if you secured their airway. When people fall unconscious, everything relaxes and their tongue drops back into the back of the throat, so tilting their head back and their jaw forward helps them to breathe. Call 999.
COOL BURNS FOR TEN MINUTES
If you burn yourself while cooking, don’t just pop it under cold water for a few seconds. Hold it there for ten minutes, as burns have a delayed reaction, so the pain develops a bit later. The quicker it’s cooled, and the longer it’s cooled for, the less likely it is to be very painful. If the cold tap is so cold it aches, add a little warm water to the flow. If the burn is big and open, cover in clingfilm to stop infection. If it’s your child or a baby, call 999, and if a child has pulled a pan of hot water over themselves, take all their clothes off – including underwear, which may not have cooled and could keep scalding them. Keep them under a cool or lukewarm shower until help arrives, and reassure them.
TREAT A BUMPED HEAD
For a child, it would have to be a big bump to the head for them to be severely compromised – like being hit by a vehicle. But if they bump their head running about and hitting a table, for example, they’ll probably be fine. Hold a wrapped ice pack to it for ten minutes, and observe them carefully for the next 48 hours. If they lose consciousness, cry non-stop, have trouble walking, are confused or disorientated, feel sick, or if there’s a change to their usual characteristics, call for help. Only let them go to sleep if they seem alert and back to normal. Trust your instincts.
PROTECT DURING A SEIZURE OR FIT
If someone you know has a seizure, it can be scary to witness, but just focus on keeping them safe from injuring themselves. Try to stop them banging their head on anything hard like the pavement, call 999 and don’t restrain them. Cushion their head and check if they carry a card in their pocket that explains what to do if they have a seizure, as lots of people do carry one. Once they are still enough to do so, check their airway is clear by tilting their head back.