Household First Aid Tips

While the house should be a place of safety, especially if there are children, there is a tendency for accidents to happen. Keeping this in mind it is also a good idea to have basic first aid supplies and have first aid training to address mishaps and emergencies that will occur in the course of everyday living. Having this knowledge will help in responding to what ever the emergency is or how sever the situation is.

Burns are one of the most common issues around the home and therefore it is important to know what to do when someone you know gets a burn. A simple burn is one where the area will just become slightly red and may have a slight blister. Running a burn under room temperature water is best. It used to be thought that a burn should be treated with ointment, mayonnaise, or ice cubes, however this is not advisable. Burns that cover a large surface area of the body or are visually more severe should be attended to by a physician immediately especially when the layers of skin are lifting off because this can create a potential route for infection.

Many childhood memories revolve getting stuck or punctured with rusty nails on the back porch or barbed wire bits or house hold items that have sharp pointed edges. These are very common household incidents that involve children. It is equally important to remember not to remove any thing that has punctured the skin. This could cause the bleeding to become extreme or could cause additional damage to surrounding tissue, organs and vessels. The best treatment is to stabilize the object and quickly seek medical help for the injury.

A more severe but less occurring accident is loosing a finger. Should this be the situation you are faced with, remember to keep the hand elevated above the heart to reduce the bleeding and secure a baggie and some ice cubes to keep the finger from being unusable. This will help reattachment become more successful once a hospital is reached and treatment has began. More fingers are severed that any other body part.

First aid essentials are very important if there is an emergency and will really put your mind at ease should they be needed at a minutes notice. You can use an empty shoe box as a container for bandages, ice packs, dressing, tape and other simple first aid items. A simple kit can just take a few moments and not too many dollars to put together, but is a great thing to have.