First Aid in the Treatment of Burns
Posted by Roswell Reyes in Uncategorized
The incidence of burns is far greater in children and babies than it is in adults. Burn injuries are caused when contact has been made with appliances such as boiling kettles and irons and also hot liquids as children are naturally inquisitive and try to handle these items and find them getting burned. Many of the burns are minor and are successfully treated within the home with the parent attending to the burn from with first aid kit. It is important though for even the victim of a minor burn to treat immediately with first aid as the young skin of a child is easily scarred. However, it should be noted that victims of major burns cannot be treated within the home and require the expert attention of medical professionals as their expertise helps either prevent or minimize the scarring as a result of the severe burn.
An extent of burn victims injuries of the skin are classified in three degrees, very first, second or third degree. The very first degree burn is a burn to the upper layer of the skin of which is easily treated with the burn treatment of a first aid kit. Second and also third degree burns cannot be treated with the burn treatment of a first aid kit but require the urgent medical attention of a doctor in a hospital
When giving first aid treatment to a first degree burn, the first step is to apply immediate cooling to the burn, pain relief should be administered and then the burn should be covered with a sterile dressing. The clothing in the area of the burn needs to be removed as it retains heat and continue to scald the victim. However, caution needs to be taken here as the clothing often adheres to the burned skin resulting in further skin injury as well as infection. The burn area needs to be covered well with a cooling liquid, however, ice water and ice cubes must not be used on the burn area as these substances cause the burn to take much longer to heal. The burn needs to be dressed as soon as possible after the burning incident with a sterile bandage and or pad. The application of topical sprays, oils and also creams to the burn will just increase the risk of an infection setting in and this must be avoided at all costs and therefore, these items must be ignored when treating a burn victim.
If the victim has been burned as a result of a fire, the flames will need to be doused by rolling the victim on the ground then covering the victim in a blanket as he will be suffering from severe shock. If the victim has been burned as a result of an electrical burn, he should be removed immediately form the source of the electricity before any form of burn treatment can commence and then the victim should be admitted to a hospital for further treatment.
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