Learning First Aid: What to Do Until Medical Help Arrives

September 02, 2012

A first-aid kit

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Christopher Cruise. Today, Bob Doughty and Pat Bodnar provide a short guide to first aid.

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BOB DOUGHTY: Doctors in hospital emergency rooms often see accidental poisonings. A frightened parent arrives with a child who swallowed a cleaning liquid. Or perhaps the harmful substance is a medicine. Or it might be a product meant to kill insects. These are common causes of accidental poisoning.

​In cases like this, seek medical help as soon as possible. Save the container of whatever caused the poisoning. And look on the container for information about anything that stops the effects of the poison.

Save anything expelled from the mouth of the victim. That way, doctors can examine it.

PAT BODNAR: In the past, some people forced poisoning victims to empty the stomach. They used a liquid -- syrup of ipecac -- to do this. But a leading medical organization no longer advises parents to keep syrup of ipecac. The American Academy of Pediatrics says some poisons can cause additional damage when they come back up the throat.

BOB DOUGHTY: Millions of people know how to give abdominal thrusts to save a person choking on something trapped in the throat.

The American Red Cross says a rescuer should first hit the person on the back five times between the shoulder bones. These back blows may ease the choking. If the airway is still blocked, the Red Cross suggests pushing hard five times along the victim's abdomen. The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hipbones.