Skills to prevent accidents and injuries during the rainy season

During the rainy and stormy season, people have to face many diseases and accidents. If they are subjective and do not know how to prevent them, their lives will be in danger.

» Understand 4 principles to never be struck by lightning

Therefore, to protect the safety of life and property for yourself and your family, below are some skills to help properly handle and prevent common injuries during floods.

Lightning in stormy season

It is currently the rainy season, so lightning strikes often occur, which can be very dangerous for people. People struck by lightning can have their heart stop immediately. In others, there may be no external signs of injury. Some people may lose consciousness for different periods of time. They may seem confused or not remember what happened...

First aid for broken bones.

To deal with lightning strikes at home or at the scene, place the victim on a dry, flat surface and loosen their clothing so they can breathe easily. Immediately perform artificial respiration. If a broken bone is found, immobilize the bone before moving. Be especially careful not to move the victim if a spinal fracture is suspected.

For dry burns, leave the burn alone, do not touch it, do not apply leaves or traditional oils to the burn. After first aid, quickly take the victim to the nearest medical facility for timely emergency care.

To effectively prevent lightning: When seeing a thunderstorm, people working outdoors should quickly return home or take shelter in tents. If they cannot evacuate in time, they must stay away from metal objects such as: plows, hoes, shovels, water pumps, motorbikes, bicycles...

Be especially careful not to avoid the rain under large trees, especially tall, isolated trees in open areas. Because when lightning strikes a tree, a strong electric current can be transmitted to any conductive object or transmitted to the tree roots and spread to the ground, causing accidents for people taking shelter under the tree.

Drowning

During the rainy season, the water in rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes rises and flows rapidly, changing the normal flow, so people passing through these areas are very susceptible to accidents. If the victim has just drunk water and inhaled water into the airways, they will panic and struggle a lot above and below the water surface. When rescued to shore: The victim may not show any symptoms or may be panicked, scared, have a rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, and hypothermia.

How to handle: First aid immediately underwater: Support the victim's head above water and swim on your back to bring the victim to shore. You can slap both cheeks 2-3 times to induce breathing reflex. Keep warm, rub hot oils. Monitor if the condition worsens, transfer to the nearest medical facility. During transfer, monitor breathing and heart rate.

If discovered and rescued late: The victim has drunk and inhaled a lot of water into the airways, causing severe oxygen deficiency. Often struggling underwater, foaming at the surface. When rescued to shore, there are signs of panic, struggle, rapid, shallow breathing, pink foam coming from the mouth, cold body, pale, purple skin, fast, weak or slow heartbeat, weak and difficult to detect pulse.

Treatment: Lie face down with head tilted, press both hands firmly into the epigastric region or quickly tilt the victim upside down, but do not last more than 1 minute. Wipe nose, mouth, throat. If the victim is breathing weakly, perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Replace wet clothes with dry clothes or cover with a dry towel.

Then keep the victim warm, rub hot oils and then quickly transfer to the nearest medical facility. During the transport, continue to perform respiratory resuscitation (if necessary) and monitor heart rate. Absolutely do not treat based on advice or experience.

To prevent drowning, people should be careful not to go through flooded areas or fast-flowing water. If you have to go through flooded areas, you must have a life buoy and go in groups (to help each other when necessary); in dangerous areas, there must be signs or someone on duty to warn people of dangerous sections.

To avoid lightning strikes, do not take shelter from the rain under a large tree.

Electric shock

The electrical system in some places is complicated, unsafe, and easily broken by strong winds, so storms and rains can easily cause this accident. Therefore, if you encounter a victim of electric shock, you need to handle it as follows: Quickly turn off the circuit breaker. Use a dry wooden stick, wooden board, plastic tree... to separate the victim from the electric current. Place the victim in a cool place.

For unconscious victims with no signs of breathing: Perform artificial respiration and chest compressions on the spot until the victim can breathe on his own or is certain to be dead. For conscious victims: Check the extent of injuries in different locations.

In particular, check for dangerous injuries first, such as those in the cervical vertebrae, because these injuries can cause paralysis if not treated promptly, then check the remaining parts. Encourage and comfort the victim to feel secure and quickly take the victim to the nearest medical facility.

To prevent electric shock accidents: People should proactively check the electrical system of their home and the area around where they live; if there is anything unusual, they must notify the electricity authority for timely repair. When seeing broken electrical wires, fallen electrical equipment or seeing a safety risk, do not go near.

Install fuses, circuit breakers, power outlets... in a dry, convenient place, 1.4m above the floor to keep out of reach of children. Do not plug the power cord directly into the power outlet, but use a plug. Do not stand in a wet place to turn on or off the power. Wipe your hands dry when touching the power cord or electrical equipment. When unplugging the power plug, hold the plastic cover of the plug, not the power cord.

In case the house is flooded and the power cannot be cut off, you must stand in the areas that are not flooded, call or scream for help so that everyone can report to the electricity company to cut off the power. Do not wade through the house to clean up furniture, as this will cause electric leakage in the water and cause fatal accidents. Electrical equipment that has been soaked in water must be dried before being used.

First aid for broken bones

Fractures are often caused by collapsed houses, fallen trees, or falls. If not properly treated, fractures will worsen the victim's condition. Therefore, when encountering a victim suspected of having a fracture, the first aider should remain calm and assess which limb the victim has fractured, whether there are any other injuries, whether there is a fracture or an open bone, and whether the patient is conscious or unconscious.

Absolutely do not move the patient until the broken bone is immobilized. It is necessary to immobilize the broken limb in a functional position (the limb should be immobilized in the same position), do not pull, manipulate or adjust the limb's position; immobilize the joints above and below the fracture of a joint; use the right size splint, insert gauze or rags where the splint is pressed against the victim's skin (avoid abrasions or skin tears).

In case the victim is unconscious, tilt the head to one side (to avoid the tongue falling out and blocking the airway). After the fracture has been fixed, gently move the victim to the nearest qualified medical facility for better treatment.

According to SK&DS