First Aid Treatment for Fire
IF ON FIRE
- Stop, Drop, Cover and Roll
- Smother the flames with a blanket
- Move away from heat source
FIRST AID FOR BURN INJURIES
- Protect your own safety at all times
- For all burns apply cold running (tap) water for at least 20 minutes
- If running water not available, wet 2 cloths and alternate them onto the burn every 2 minutes
- Keep the rest of the body warm
- Do NOT use ice, butter, creams, etc.
- Remove clothing and jewellery as they can hold heat on the burn and jewellery can stop blood flow to the burn.
- Seek medical attention for any burn bigger than a 20 cent coin, or that blisters or if there are any concerns.
Ensure that all adults in the household know and understand proper first aid. Where appropriate, children should be taught general first aid principles.
Fire is a dramatic disaster not only because
of its devastating effects on property and individuals but also, and above all,
because of the panic it engenders in all those who suddenly find themselves
face to face with the spread of flames.
In the presence of fire, a certain degree of panic is the most natural, almost physiological reaction, occurring in every living creature from insect to man.
An initial moment of psychological paralysis is common in all persons, followed by total inability to think rationally, which in turn leads to acts of instinctive behaviour with a single aim: escape to safety.
This sequence of actions not infrequently serves only to worsen the amount of damage caused and to create an even more dramatic and tragic situation. This may indeed be the only reaction possible in animals, which are purely instinctive, but in man, who possesses reason, there is another option which at first sight may seem almost paradoxical: to keep calm and take rational decisions. This can be achieved in one way only: through information about the risks involved, through understanding of the dangers, and through instruction about how to behave in case of fire.
In the presence of fire, a certain degree of panic is the most natural, almost physiological reaction, occurring in every living creature from insect to man.
An initial moment of psychological paralysis is common in all persons, followed by total inability to think rationally, which in turn leads to acts of instinctive behaviour with a single aim: escape to safety.
This sequence of actions not infrequently serves only to worsen the amount of damage caused and to create an even more dramatic and tragic situation. This may indeed be the only reaction possible in animals, which are purely instinctive, but in man, who possesses reason, there is another option which at first sight may seem almost paradoxical: to keep calm and take rational decisions. This can be achieved in one way only: through information about the risks involved, through understanding of the dangers, and through instruction about how to behave in case of fire.
Burn disaster
Whether a fire disaster strikes a building, a hospital, an airport, a ship, a factory, a sports stadium or a campsite, it is inevitably a highly devastating event because of the social and public context of these structures.
The extent of the disaster is determined by the distribution of material goods and, above all, by the number of persons involved. Those who escape death may suffer extensive burns which may be immediately life-endangering.
The problems of the involvement of human beings in a fire disaster are expressed precisely in the concept of "burn disaster", which may be defined as:
"The overall effects on living persons caused by the massive action from a known thermal agent. It is characterized by a high number of deaths and of seriously burned patients with a high rate of potential mortality and disability. It may be aggravated if appropriate rescue operations are delayed."
Some information about specific aspects of burn pathology, such as may occur in fire disasters, will help in the understanding of this definition:
Whether a fire disaster strikes a building, a hospital, an airport, a ship, a factory, a sports stadium or a campsite, it is inevitably a highly devastating event because of the social and public context of these structures.
The extent of the disaster is determined by the distribution of material goods and, above all, by the number of persons involved. Those who escape death may suffer extensive burns which may be immediately life-endangering.
The problems of the involvement of human beings in a fire disaster are expressed precisely in the concept of "burn disaster", which may be defined as:
"The overall effects on living persons caused by the massive action from a known thermal agent. It is characterized by a high number of deaths and of seriously burned patients with a high rate of potential mortality and disability. It may be aggravated if appropriate rescue operations are delayed."
Some information about specific aspects of burn pathology, such as may occur in fire disasters, will help in the understanding of this definition:
The inhalation of combustion gases, fumes and
hot air can cause life-endangering damage to the airways, even if the actual
burns are limited in extent.
Burns involving more than 20% BSA in the
adult and 15% BSA in the child cause a progressive state of hypovolaemic shock
requiring reanimation within the first three hours.
The burn is often associated with other
trauma (fractures, wounds, electrocution, etc.) which may complicate the
prognosis quoad vitam, if not treated in good time.
Immediate care and first aid
The characteristics of relief action in a burn disaster are closely linked to the particular nature of the damage that fire causes in living persons and material goods, the manner of its occurrence, the dangers to which the rescue workers are exposed, and the specific type of care that has to be given to the victims.
The timeliness and the effective impact of relief work depend on both general and local factors.
In the specific case of the "burn disaster", as defined above, particular circumstances - such as the moment when the disaster occurs (night, day-time, public holiday, unfavourable weather conditions), the place of the disaster (residential area, skyscraper, isolated locality), the degree of accessibility, and the distance from operational rescue forces - all acquire importance because any delay will prevent relief work from being immediately available.
A decisive role is therefore played by local intervention factors which chiefly depend on the behaviour of the people present at the scene of the disaster, and on the action of the operative teams that arrive rapidly on the scene.
The peculiar nature of the burn disaster therefore necessitates well-defined chronological and qualitative operative phases. A person with burns of the airways and associated trauma needs immediate care of a different type from that given to the victim of an earthquake, flood or cyclone. It is also of fundamental importance, for prognostic reasons, that pending the arrival of organized relief some medical and/or surgical first aid must be given within a very short time according to the type of pathology present. The prognosis of burn disaster victims is thus conditioned by the degree of preparedness of the population facing the fire emergency and by the operational capacity of volunteers, physicians and nurses present in the area or in the immediate vicinity who have received previous training in this specific type of relief work. If people are to be able to give immediate care either to themselves or to others, they must know precisely what they have to do, they must have information not only about behaviour guidelines that will enable them to save themselves (self-rescue) but also about some elementary principles necessary for immediate help to others.
Understanding the danger represented by fire also means how to tackle it and how to defend oneself from it.
The more specific aim of first aid is to contain the injury and to reduce the risk of mortality. This is the responsibility of the already mentioned trained groups who get organized within two or three hours of the disaster.
These groups, consisting of physicians, nurses and volunteers with well-defined tasks, perform the first emergency triage and, bearing in mind the particular evolution of the initial phase of the bum disease, set into motion all the procedures necessary for initial resuscitatory therapy and local treatment of the burns.
The characteristics of relief action in a burn disaster are closely linked to the particular nature of the damage that fire causes in living persons and material goods, the manner of its occurrence, the dangers to which the rescue workers are exposed, and the specific type of care that has to be given to the victims.
The timeliness and the effective impact of relief work depend on both general and local factors.
In the specific case of the "burn disaster", as defined above, particular circumstances - such as the moment when the disaster occurs (night, day-time, public holiday, unfavourable weather conditions), the place of the disaster (residential area, skyscraper, isolated locality), the degree of accessibility, and the distance from operational rescue forces - all acquire importance because any delay will prevent relief work from being immediately available.
A decisive role is therefore played by local intervention factors which chiefly depend on the behaviour of the people present at the scene of the disaster, and on the action of the operative teams that arrive rapidly on the scene.
The peculiar nature of the burn disaster therefore necessitates well-defined chronological and qualitative operative phases. A person with burns of the airways and associated trauma needs immediate care of a different type from that given to the victim of an earthquake, flood or cyclone. It is also of fundamental importance, for prognostic reasons, that pending the arrival of organized relief some medical and/or surgical first aid must be given within a very short time according to the type of pathology present. The prognosis of burn disaster victims is thus conditioned by the degree of preparedness of the population facing the fire emergency and by the operational capacity of volunteers, physicians and nurses present in the area or in the immediate vicinity who have received previous training in this specific type of relief work. If people are to be able to give immediate care either to themselves or to others, they must know precisely what they have to do, they must have information not only about behaviour guidelines that will enable them to save themselves (self-rescue) but also about some elementary principles necessary for immediate help to others.
Understanding the danger represented by fire also means how to tackle it and how to defend oneself from it.
The more specific aim of first aid is to contain the injury and to reduce the risk of mortality. This is the responsibility of the already mentioned trained groups who get organized within two or three hours of the disaster.
These groups, consisting of physicians, nurses and volunteers with well-defined tasks, perform the first emergency triage and, bearing in mind the particular evolution of the initial phase of the bum disease, set into motion all the procedures necessary for initial resuscitatory therapy and local treatment of the burns.
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