Medical Emergencies Answers
1. What are the items in a first aid kit?
Answer: Families need a first aid kit. Put the kit in a place where it is easy to find but out of reach of small children. Items to include in your first aid kit are:
- Band-Aids (small, large, and ACE bandage)
- First Aid tape
- Blunt scissors
- Antibiotic ointment
- Antiseptic (rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide)
- Tweezers
- Sterile gauze dressing
- Cold pak
2. How do I put on an ACE bandage?
Answer: To put an ACE wrap on an area, you want to make sure it is snug but not too tight that someone cannot feel their fingers or toes, or an area would turn red or blue.
3. How do I know when a cut is little enough to use a bandage or big enough to call 911?
Answer: When someone is bleeding: Press a clean cloth against the wound, DO NOT wash the cut. Put a bandage on the wound if the bleeding is only a little or it has stopped. If the wound is bleeding a lot and can’t be stopped, it’s serious. Call for help. Press on the wound with a thick cloth like a towel. Keep pressure on and put more clean cloths on top of each other. DO NOT take the cloths off the wound until help arrives and they can take over.
4. If someone is choking, what can I do to help?
Answer: Ask if they are choking and if they show the universal sign – grabbing their throat, go to the person choking and clear the airway or throat by using back blows then abdominal thrusts so the person can breathe.
5. What should you do if you burn yourself making some food while you are home alone?
Answer: Soak the burn in cold water (not ice) for at least 5-15 minutes. When you take it out of the water and it looks red like sunburn you can put antibiotic ointment and band aid on it. If it still hurts you can put it back in the water for 5 minutes.
If when you take it out of the water and the skin is white, blistered, or open or oozing, it is serious. Call for help. Then cover the burned area with a clean, dry cloth. If clothing is stuck to the burn DO NOT try to take it off of the burn.
6. What should you do if you are playing with your brother/sister and they bump their head?
Answer: Help them move slowly to a comfortable place. Hold an ice pack on the area (or even a frozen bag of vegetables) to help reduce the swelling. If the person is dizzy, acts strangely, vomits, blacks out, has blurry vision call for 911 for help.
7. If you get a stomachache how can you make it better?
Answer: Try to go to the bathroom, sometimes it is gas. Then lay down to rest for a while. If the pain is getting worse even after trying those things then call for help. Your parents may have something you can take but only do so with their permission. If you throw up, lay down to rest, place a cool cloth on your forehead. You may try clear liquids (water) or soda crackers until your stomach feels better. Call 911 if your vomit is red, dark brown (coffee grounds), or dark green.
