What type of symptoms can a casualty

Find a document. Content Library. Who will pay the cost when you go to a casualty unit? When should you go to the emergency room?

Registration number: Join us. Discovery Vitality. Log in. Email address. Your session will expire in 60 seconds. Instead, press firmly on either side of the object and build up padding around it before bandaging, to avoid putting pressure on the object itself. If a body part, such as a finger, has been severed, place it in a plastic bag or wrap it in cling film and make sure it goes with the casualty to hospital.

Read more about how to treat minor bleeding from cuts and grazes and how to treat nosebleeds. Haemostatic dressings contain properties that help the blood to clot thicken quicker. A tourniquet is a band that's wrapped tightly around a limb to stop blood loss. Haemostatic dressings and tourniquets should only be used by people who have been trained to apply them. For chemical burns, wear protective gloves, remove any affected clothing, and rinse the burn with cool running water for at least 20 minutes to wash out the chemical.

If possible, determine the cause of the injury. In certain situations where a chemical is regularly handled, a specific chemical antidote may be available to use. Be careful not to contaminate and injure yourself with the chemical, and wear protective clothing if necessary.

Read more about how to treat burns and scalds. If the airway is only partly blocked, the person will usually be able to speak, cry, cough or breathe. In situations like this, a person will usually be able to clear the blockage themselves. Abdominal thrusts shouldn't be used on babies under one year old, pregnant women or obese people. The aim is to get the obstruction out with each chest thrust, rather than necessarily doing all five.

If the obstruction doesn't clear after three cycles of back blows and chest thrusts, phone or to ask for an ambulance, and continue until help arrives. The person choking should always be seen by a healthcare professional afterwards to check for any injuries or small pieces of the obstruction that remain. If someone is in difficulty in water, don't enter the water to help unless it's absolutely essential.

Once the person is on land, if they're not breathing, open the airway and give five initial rescue breaths before starting CPR.

If you're alone, perform CPR for one minute before phoning for emergency help. Find out how to give CPR, including rescue breaths. If the person is unconscious but still breathing, put them into the recovery position with their head lower than their body and phone an ambulance immediately.

Continue to observe the casualty to ensure they don't stop breathing or that their airway becomes obstructed. If someone has had an electric shock, switch off the electrical current at the mains to break the contact between the person and the electrical supply.

It can be difficult to tell if a person has a broken bone or a joint, as opposed to a simple muscular injury. If you're in any doubt, treat the injury as a broken bone.

If the person is unconscious, has difficulty breathing or is bleeding severely, these must be dealt with first, by controlling the bleeding with direct pressure and performing CPR. If the person is conscious, prevent any further pain or damage by keeping the fracture as still as possible until you get them safely to hospital. Assess the injury and decide whether the best way to get them to hospital is by ambulance or car. It's always best to get someone else to drive, so that you can deal with the casualty if they deteriorate — for example, if they lose consciousness as a result of the pain or start to vomit.

Don't give the casualty anything to eat or drink, because they may need an anaesthetic numbing medication when they reach hospital. A heart attack is one of the most common life-threatening heart conditions in the UK. If you think a person is having, or has had, a heart attack, sit them down and make them as comfortable as possible, and phone or for an ambulance. Symptoms of a heart attack include:. If they're conscious, reassure them and ask them to take a mg aspirin tablet to chew slowly unless you know they shouldn't take aspirin — for example, if they're under 16 or allergic to it.

If the person has any medication for angina , such as a spray or tablets, help them to take it. Monitor their vital signs, such as breathing, until help arrives. If the person deteriorates and becomes unconscious, open their airway, check their breathing and, if necessary, start CPR. Re-alert the emergency services that the casualty is now in cardiac arrest.

Poisoning is potentially life-threatening. Most cases of poisoning in the UK happen when a person has swallowed a toxic substance, such as bleach, taken an overdose of a prescription medication, or eaten wild plants and fungi.

Alcohol poisoning can cause similar symptoms. If you think someone has swallowed a poisonous substance, phone or to get immediate medical help and advice. The effects of poisoning depend on the substance swallowed, but can include vomiting, loss of consciousness, pain or a burning sensation. The following advice is important:. If the person becomes unconscious while you're waiting for help to arrive, check for breathing and, if necessary, perform CPR.

Don't perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if the casualty's mouth or airway is contaminated with the poison. If nothing is embedded: Apply and maintain pressure to the wound with your gloved hand, using a clean pad or dressing if possible. Continue to apply pressure until the bleeding stops.

Use a clean dressing to bandage the wound firmly. If bleeding continues through the pad, apply pressure to the wound until the bleeding stops, and then apply another pad over the top and bandage it in place. Do not remove the original pad or dressing, but continue to check that the bleeding has stopped. Make sure the severed limb goes with the patient to hospital.

Always seek medical help for bleeding, unless it's minor. Find out how to treat minor bleeding from cuts and grazes Find out how to treat nosebleeds Burns and scalds If someone has a burn or scald: Cool the burn as quickly as possible with cool running water for at least 20 minutes, or until the pain is relieved.

Call or seek medical help, if needed. While cooling the burn, carefully remove any clothing or jewellery, unless it's attached to the skin. If you're cooling a large burnt area, particularly in babies, children and elderly people, be aware that it may cause hypothermia it may be necessary to stop cooling the burn to avoid hypothermia. Cover the burn loosely with cling film. If cling film isn't available, use a clean, dry dressing or non-fluffy material. Do not wrap the burn tightly as swelling may lead to further injury.

Do not apply creams, lotions or sprays to the burn. If possible, determine the cause of the injury. Call for immediate medical help. Find out how to treat burns and scalds Choking The following information is for choking in adults and children over 1 year old. Find out what to do if a baby under 1 year old is choking Mild choking If the airway is only partly blocked, the person will usually be able to speak, cry, cough or breathe. If choking is mild: Encourage the person to cough to try to clear the blockage.

Ask them to try to spit out the object if it's in their mouth. Do not put your fingers in their mouth if you can't see the object, as you risk pushing it further down their mouth. If coughing doesn't work, start back blows. Severe choking If choking is severe, the person won't be able to speak, cry, cough or breathe, and without help they'll eventually become unconscious.

To help an adult or child over 1 year old: Stand behind the person and slightly to one side. Support their chest with 1 hand. Lean the person forward so the object blocking their airway will come out of their mouth, rather than moving further down. Give up to 5 sharp blows between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand the heel is between the palm of your hand and your wrist. Check if the blockage has cleared. If not, give up to 5 abdominal thrusts.

To perform abdominal thrusts on a person who is severely choking and isn't in one of the above groups: Stand behind the person who is choking. Place your arms around their waist and bend them well forward. Clench 1 fist and place it just above the person's belly button. Place your other hand on top of your fist and pull sharply inwards and upwards. Repeat this up to 5 times. If the person's airway is still blocked after trying back blows and abdominal thrusts: Call and ask for an ambulance.

Tell the operator that the person is choking. Continue with the cycles of 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts until help arrives.

Drowning If someone is in difficulty in water, don't enter the water unless it's safe to do so. Electric shock domestic If someone has had an electric shock, switch off the electrical current at the mains to break the contact between the person and the electrical supply.

Get the person to apply direct pressure to the wound with their hand or hands to stem the blood flow. You may need to pull the edges of the wound together before applying a dressing or pad. Secure it firmly with a bandage. If an object is embedded in the wound, do not remove it. Apply pressure around the object. Do not apply a tourniquet. If blood saturates the initial dressing, do not remove it. Add fresh padding over the top and secure with a bandage.

Internal bleeding — visible The most common type of visible internal bleed is a bruise, when blood from damaged blood vessels leaks into the surrounding skin. Some types of internal injury can cause visible bleeding from an orifice body opening. For example: bowel injury — bleeding from the anus head injury — bleeding from the ears or nose lung injury — coughing up frothy, bloodied sputum spit urinary tract injury — blood in the urine. An internal injury can sometimes cause bleeding that remains contained within the body; for example, within the skull or abdominal cavity.

Listen carefully to what the person tells you about their injury — where they felt the impact, for example. They may display the signs and symptoms of shock. In the case of a head injury, they may display the signs and symptoms of concussion.

Therefore, it is important to ask the right questions to collect the relevant information. Symptoms of concealed internal bleeding The signs and symptoms that suggest concealed internal bleeding depend on where the bleeding is inside the body, but may include: pain at the injured site swollen, tight abdomen nausea and vomiting pale, clammy, sweaty skin breathlessness extreme thirst unconsciousness.

Some signs and symptoms specific to concussion caused by trauma to the head include: headache or dizziness loss of memory, particularly of the event confusion altered state of consciousness wounds on the head face and scalp nausea and vomiting. Internal bleeding is a medical emergency First aid cannot manage or treat any kind of internal bleeding. Prompt medical help is vital. Suggestions include: Check for danger before approaching the person. Check that the person is conscious.

Cover them with a blanket or something to keep them warm.