First aid rules for injuries in construction and repair

Recommendation points

• The main rule of first aid
• Stopping bleeding
• Help with fractures
• What to do with traumatic amputation
• How to treat burns
• Falling from height
• Toxic poisoning
• Electric shock
• Head injury

In any work team there should be at least a couple of people who are well aware of the procedure for providing first aid. Today we will talk about industrial injuries and the rules of first aid for injuries in construction and repair..

The main rule of first aid

The statistics of emergency care is depressing: often a fatal outcome occurs due to the fact that the call to doctors was made untimely, and there was no person near the victim who could carry out resuscitation measures. Even if there is no immediate threat to life, properly provided first aid will help partially or completely neutralize harm to health.

First aid was not called pre-medical for nothing. Her first rule is, first of all, to call an ambulance if there is a danger to the victim’s life. When calling, you need to describe the state of the person and the nature of the damage in as much detail as possible. It is possible that the caller will be asked to stay on the line and will be prompted for the correct sequence of further actions.

Stopping bleeding

There are three types of bleeding. The least dangerous are called capillary, with them the blood of a saturated red color flows out slowly, but sometimes in sufficiently large quantities. Help consists in applying a compressive sterile dressing.

With arterial bleeding, blood of a bright scarlet color gushes out from the damaged vessel in a fountain. This type of bleeding is considered the most dangerous; death from blood loss occurs in a matter of minutes. It is necessary as soon as possible to apply a tourniquet 5-10 cm above the injury site, first wrapping the skin with something soft, and then applying a strong pressure bandage directly to the wound. To squeeze a limb, you can also use a regular belt, the buckle of which is tightened on the back of the wound.

Together with the tourniquet, be sure to leave a note or write the application time on the skin with a marker. In winter, the tourniquet can be kept tight for 30 minutes, in summer – no more than an hour. After these periods, the tourniquet must be slightly loosened for a short time. Please note that if the arteries in the head area are damaged, the tourniquet tightens the neck and the raised arm. It will also be useful to study the location of the large vessels so that you can pinch them with your finger as quickly as possible while the tourniquet is being prepared..

Venous bleeding is also dangerous, with them blood of a purple or red-brown color flows out without pressure, but in large quantities and unevenly due to pressure pulsations. Help also consists in applying a tourniquet and a pressure bandage, but it is also possible to squeeze the limb by bending it all the way in the joint above the injury site with a tight roller lining either in the elbow or knee bend, or between the groin and leg. If there are foreign objects in the wound, they should not be pulled out by yourself.

Help with fractures

If the bones are damaged, the injury site quickly swells and swells, a bruise forms, the victim feels acute pain when trying to move parts of the body below the fracture site. The damaged part of the body must be immobilized by fixing it with a splint in several places. Any hard board, pipe or reinforcement can be used as a splint; a broken forearm can be wrapped in a thick magazine. Be sure to apply cold to the damaged area and take pain relievers.

In open fractures, a piece of bone breaks through soft tissue and the situation is aggravated by bleeding. If necessary, a tourniquet is applied much higher than the injured area so as not to damage bones and tissues even more. It is strictly forbidden to straighten the bone: the sharp edges of the fragment can damage large vessels. It is necessary to protect the site of injury with a soft sterile bandage, immobilize the limb – fix it, provide the person with peace before transporting him to traumatology.

The most dangerous are fractures of the pelvis, ribs and spine. The victim may not be transportable and therefore needs to remain motionless until an ambulance arrives. Due to severe pain, a person may fall into a state of shock and try to move, which must be stopped in every possible way. The main symptom of spinal injury is loss of sensation below the injury site. In this case, the victim cannot be moved in any way before the arrival of the paramedics..

What to do with traumatic amputation

If a finger or a whole limb is cut off as a result of an injury, the separated body part must be kept in a cold environment. It is optimal to wrap the amputated part in an airtight bag and immerse it in a container with ice and water, but not with pure ice. The ideal temperature for storage is -3 -4 ° С.

In modern traumatology, replantation of severed body parts is possible 6–12 hours after injury. If at this time the ice in the “refrigerator” has melted, it is completely placed in another bag with water and ice. At temperatures of 5-7 ° C and above, the preservation time is at least halved.

On the body, the site of injury, as a rule, is smashed and heavily contaminated, blood appears abundantly. The wound should be washed with an antiseptic (hydrogen peroxide), a bandage and tourniquet should be applied above the injury site, and the victim should be immobile. The most serious injury of this kind is incomplete amputation, when the cut off fragment is retained only on a small area of ​​soft tissue. The injured limb must be carefully folded and fixed with a splint, a tourniquet and a tight, but not squeezing bandage should be applied.

How to treat burns

With burns of varying degrees, the main task is to cool the damaged area as soon as possible in order to stop the penetration of heat deep into the tissues. In case of superficial burns, it is necessary to ensure complete antisepticity and apply a soft sterile dressing. It is impossible to use alcohol-containing disinfectants, it is better to cover the damaged area with an anti-burn spray or gel, and in case of severe destruction of the skin, with streptocide powder.

In case of thermal burns, you need to free the damage site from the remnants of clothing that has not adhered to the skin. It is strictly forbidden to tear off flaps of loose skin, pierce blisters and generally have any effect on the burned area. Deep burns of 3 and 4 degrees cannot be cooled with running water, only cold applied through a bandage.

With extensive damage, the likelihood of developing poisoning with burn toxins is high. The victim must be given plenty of fluids to maintain intensive kidney function, to ensure peace. Emergency care must be called if the area of ​​the affected area is comparable to half the surface of the chest (from 5%), or if the head, groin or respiratory organs are damaged.

In case of chemical burns, the procedure is the same, with the exception of applying cold. However, the burn should be rinsed as soon as possible with plenty of first clean water and then a weak alkaline or acidic solution (vinegar / electrolyte or soda / ammonia) to neutralize harsh chemicals..

Falling from height

After calling an ambulance, the main task is to provide complete immobility and rest to the victim, to unfasten the belt and tight outer clothing.

Before the arrival of the doctors, the patient must be kept awake and prevented from getting worse. In addition to fractures, bruises of internal organs and internal bleeding are possible. A characteristic sign is the rapid formation of bruises on the outside of the chest or abdomen. With such injuries, only qualified medical personnel can help the victim..

While the patient is conscious, he should be interviewed by palpating the ribs and chest. If, with a slight pressure on the sternum, acute pain is felt, then when the condition worsens, it is forbidden to do an indirect heart massage. Artificial respiration can be done, as a rule, this is required in case of lung injury, when the victim stops breathing on his own.

Toxic poisoning

The penetration of toxic substances into the body is possible through the respiratory tract and the digestive tract. In the latter case, the stomach should be flushed as soon as possible by giving the patient plenty of clean water and artificially causing vomiting. After washing, you need to take activated carbon or other sorbent.

If the cause of the poisoning is the inhalation of volatile compounds, the patient should be immediately taken out into the fresh air and provided with rest, given plenty of drink and a sorbent – one tablet per 6–8 kg of weight. Before the ambulance arrives, you need to keep the victim conscious and try to establish what caused the poisoning and, if possible, keep the label from the container with the toxic agent.

Symptoms of poisoning can be different and numerous: vomiting, dizziness, weakness, numbness of the limbs. If a person is shivering, he needs to be wrapped up warmly and carefully monitor the condition. If breathing or heart rate stops, immediately start resuscitation.

Electric shock

Electric shock is one of the most common occupational injuries. The first step is to stop the effect of electricity on a person: turn off the switch, cut off the cable, throw the victim away with a dry stick or rag.

If the victim is conscious, he must be seated or laid on his back, calm down and protected for the first time from stress and anxiety. In the presence of seizures, they must be stopped by rubbing the skin, in case of chills – to warm the person. Concomitant electric shock injuries are often burns and bruises from falling.

If the patient is unconscious and does not breathe, there is no pulse, artificial respiration and chest compressions should be started immediately. The order is as follows: 2-3 breaths into the lungs and 20-25 pressures on the central part of the chest. When pressed, the chest should be pressed into 2-3 cm. Resuscitation actions should be repeated before the ambulance arrives, even if the patient does not regain consciousness.

Head injury

Often head injuries occur from falls from a height or from a safety violation when working with tools and equipment. If the patient has even lost consciousness for a few seconds, experiences nausea, dizziness, difficulty breathing, he must be kept in the supine position until the doctors arrive.

Most often, a blow to the head is accompanied by traumatic brain injury and concussion. The victim must be freed from the embarrassing clothing, kept awake, wrapped and warmed. When dissecting the scalp, a bandage and cold should be applied to the head. With an open traumatic brain injury, the edges of the wound should be covered with cotton swabs and wrapped with a sterile bandage over them.

If the patient has lost consciousness, his head must be turned to the side to avoid choking with vomit. If breathing stops, primary resuscitation is performed before the arrival of doctors. The most important thing is to ensure immobility, not to bring a person to a sitting position and not to leave them unattended..