First Aid

Asthma Treatment Since asthma is a chronic disease, treatment goes on for a very long time. Some people have to stay on treatment for the rest of their lives. The best way to improve your condition and live your life on your terms is to learn all you can about your asthma and what you can do to make it better. Become a partner with your health care provider and his or her support staff. Use the resources they can offer -- information, education, and expertise -- to help yourself. Become aware of your asthma triggers and do what you can to avoid them. Follow the treatment recommendations of your health care provider. Understand your treatment. Know what each drug does and how it is used. See your health care provider as scheduled. Report any changes or worsening of your symptoms promptly. Report any side effects you are having with your medications. These are the goals of treatment: Prevent ongoing and bothersome symptoms Prevent asthma attacks Prevent attacks severe enoug...

Self-Care at Home If you come upon a person in shock, the initial response should be to call 911 and activate the emergency response system. Lay the person down in a safe place and try to keep them warm and comfortable. Medical Treatment EMS personnel are well trained in the initial assessment of the patient in shock. The first course of action is to make certain that the ABCs have been assessed. The so-called ABCs are: Airway: assessment of whether the patient is awake enough to try to take their own breaths and/or if there is there anything blocking the mouth or nose. Breathing: assessment of the adequacy of breathing and whether it may need to be assisted with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or more aggressive interventions like a bag and mask or intubation with an endotracheal tube. Circulation: assessment of the adequacy of the blood pressure adequate and determination of whether intravenous lines are needed for delivery of fluid or medications to support the blood press...

Self-Care at Home If you, a family member, or a friend has swallowed or breathed a poison and you have signs or symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, pain, trouble breathing, seizure, confusion, or abnormal skin color, then you must call either an ambulance or a poison control center for guidance. As a rule, do not treat a poisoning at home. Identify your closest poison control center from a comprehensive list of toll-free telephone numbers for poison control centers in all states at the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Place the telephone number (along with police, fire, and 911 or equivalent) near your home phones. If you phone a poison control center, ask: Is there an antidote I can give at home? In the past, syrup of ipecac was recommended to induce vomiting. You should only give ipecac when told to do so by a medical professional. Recently, experts concluded that ipecac syrup should be used very rarely. Thus, the current first-line treatment for most ingested po...

Heart Attack Treatment If you believe that you are having the symptoms of a heart attack, please call 911 immediately. When a heart attack strikes, the key thing to remember is that time equals muscle . The longer the delay in seeking medical care, the more heart muscle will be damaged. There is a window of opportunity to restore blood supply to the heart muscle by unblocking the affected heart artery. Treatments must be done in a hospital and include administration of clot-busting drugs to dissolve the clot at the site of the ruptured plaque and heart catheterization and angioplasty (in which the blood vessel is opened by balloon, often with adjunctive placement of a stent), or both. Self-Care at Home The first step to take when chest pain occurs is to call 911 and activate the Emergency Medical System. First responders, EMTs and paramedics can begin treating a heart attack enroute to the hospital, alert the Emergency Department that the patient is on the way, and treat some of the ...

Self-Care at Home You can make the diagnosis of fever by taking your temperature with a thermometer. In an adult, the thermometer is placed in the mouth or rectum (use a rectal thermometer). In general, a fever can be treated with any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or with acetaminophen (Tylenol). Both medications help control pain and fever. Alternating doses of each will also work and prevent accidental overdose. At times, a combination of both acetaminophen and ibuprofen will be needed to stop the fever. Aspirin is not the first choice for fever reduction. It may be toxic in large doses in adults or cause Reye syndrome in children. Ibuprofen comes in 200-mg tablets purchased over the counter at a drug store. You may take 1-2 tablets every 4 hours to decrease your temperature. Use the lowest possible dose. Side effects of ibuprofen include nausea and vomiting, which may be prevented if the medication is taken with food. Rare side eff...

Self-Care at Home The most important first step is to stop the burning process. Put out any fire or flames (the common advice is to 'stop, drop, and roll' to put out flames on your clothing). Remove hot or burned clothing, if possible, or stop contact with the hot steam, liquid, or a hot object. Cool the injured area with water (not ice) within 30 seconds. This may limit the extent and severity of the burn. Run your burned hand or finger, for example, immediately under cool tap water for several minutes. Control the pain. Apply a cool wet compress for pain relief. Do not use ice. This may worsen the injury to the skin. Other common remedies, such as butter or mayonnaise have not been proven to work; and may increase the chance of infection. You may also use acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil) for pain as directed on the bottle. Begin the healing process. For small burns and burns that are superficial in nature, you may use a triple antibiotic ointment. This w...

Cardiac Arrest When a person develops cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating. There is no blood flow and no pulse. With no blood flowing to the brain, the person becomes unresponsive and stops breathing normally. When you discover a person whom you believe is experiencing a medical emergency, the first thing to do is check for responsiveness. Gently shake the victim and shout, "Are you OK?" If the person does not respond to your voice or touch, they are unresponsive. If the victim is unresponsive and you are alone, leave the victim and immediately call 911. If someone is with you, tell him or her to call 911 and then return to help you. If an AED is available, bring it back to the person's side. The moment an AED becomes available, IMMEDIATELY press the "on" button. The AED will begin to speak to you. Follow its directions to use the AED. Rescue Breathing You now need to check to see if the person is breathing normally. You do this ...