First Aid
First aid is defined as the immediate and temporary proper aid to recover a sick or injured person until procedural medical treatment can be provided. Throughout life, you will be faced with injuries of every kind; whether it is a simple paper cut or a severe chemical burn, every accident must be dealt with in the right way. First aid generally consists of simple, life saving medical techniques that a non-doctor or a layman can be trained to perform in emergency situations.
A simple first aid performed may save a severe after-effect. But it is very necessary to have hands –on training by to perform first aid properly. One has to be prepared well in advance for any emergency situation so that later you needn’t regret that a few moments care would have avoided a grave situation. A proper emergency preparedness is achieved only with regular and up-to-date refresher courses and re-certifications but a layman can be quick and handle a situation with ease if he/she has a proper knowledge about the aspects that are included in dealing with different emergency situation. Always keep in mind that before one performs first aid it is necessary to recognize the type of emergency one is dealing with. Be aware of the varied variety of wounds and its effects before handling it.
Types of Wounds
A wound is the name given to tissue damage caused by mechanical force; including those injuries caused by stabbing, blunt trauma -punching, kicking, beating - strangling, biting, shooting, falling from a height, being hit by a vehicle and blast trauma experienced from explosives.
What necessarily categorizes a wound?
Any description of a wound must clearly describe the nature of the wound and clarify whether it is a bruise, abrasion or laceration or any other type. It must include wound dimensions-length, width, depth in detail and the position of the wound in relation to fixed bodily landmarks, like its distance from the midline, below the clavicle. Pedestrians who have a wound due to a motor accident need to have the height of the wound from the heel (indicates ground level) mentioned clearly in any statement.
Types of wounds: classification and nature
Wounds are categorized into six general kinds. These include abrasions, incisions, lacerations, punctures, avulsions and amputations and a combination of two or more of these basic types.
- Abrasions occur when there is a superficial injury, commonly known as a 'graze' or 'scratch'. This kind of wound damages only the uppermost skin layer and does not bleed usually. However, sometimes, abrasions extend into the dermis causing slight bleeding.
- Bruises/Contusions are the result of blunt trauma/injury to tissues, causing damage to blood vessels eneath the surface. Blood leaks out into surrounding tissues from damaged capillaries, venules and arterioles. This kind of wound may be in the form of surface bruises, or deeper within tissues or organs.
- Lacerations are wounds commonly referred to as 'gashes, tears or cuts' of the skin. The skin surface is torn following blunt trauma and the force causes the full thickness of the skin to be damaged; as a result, lacerations bleed profusely.
- Incised wounds are sharp cut-like injuries, made by knives or broken glass or similar objects that result in the edges of the wound reflecting the nature of the cutting edge of the object. Therefore, if the cutting object is a razor, it will leave regular margins, whereas an axe is more prone to leave the wound margins crushed and bruised, resembling a laceration.
- Slash wounds are those wounds where the length is greater than the depth, like a slice wound across the skin. If the wound involves major blood vessels, it can be life threatening, but in general, they are not as serious as stab wounds.
- Stab wounds occur where the depth of injury is greater than the length and penetrate more deeply than slash wounds since they tend to come into contact with vital organs in the chest and abdomen.
- Defense wounds refer to those injuries that a victim of assault can sustain during the course of the assault, as they try to defend themselves, and ward off blows.
- Chronic wound is a skin wound that fails to heal, heals slowly or heals but tends to recur; usually a result that is linked with trauma, burns, skin cancers or underlying medical conditions like diabetes.