Every day, 87 people die, while another 2, 277 are treated in emergency rooms as a result to unintentional poisoning in the United States. In 2009, 76% or 31, 758 of the recorded poisoning deaths (n = 42, 592) were reckoned unintentional. Of which 91% or 28, 754 of the deaths were accounted for by a class of drugs known as prescription painkillers. Startlingly, the death rates due to unintentional poisoning have been steadily increasing since 1992 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012). Moreover, in the same year, next only to motor vehicular crashes, unintentional poisoning produced the highest mortality in the category of unintentional injury death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011).
Evidently, had there been immediate first aid, the number of fatalities could have been significantly reduced. This is where the importance of first aid training enters. There are several ways to acquire poison in the body, which include swallowing, ingesting, and inhaling of harmful substances, among others. You must have to learn basic basic CPR training in order for you to perform medical rescue.
Aside from prescription drugs, other items that can lead to poisoning include chemicals, household detergents and cleaning products, insecticides and even paints. Symptoms will vary per poison but some of the common symptoms include: abdominal pain, chest pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, heart palpitations, nausea and vomiting, numbness, seizures, burns, skin rashes or even unconsciousness.
Watch this related video on How to Treat Someone Who Has Food Poisoning | First Aid
[media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGrHHUXshMQ” width=”600″ height=”400″]It is important to immediately seek for medical help. However, while waiting for medical help, first aid should be performed. If the person has swallowed poison, the first thing to do is to check for the person’s airway, breathing and pulse. If there is no pulse, commence CPR. However, it is important to first identify if the victim has certainly been poisoned as the symptoms are not always definite and may be pertaining to another disease. For a person who swallowed poison, check for difficulty in breathing, smell of breath, burned mouth or vomiting. Try to identify the poison. Do not force the person to vomit unless commanded by medical response or poison control. However, if the person vomits, clear the airway of the person by wrapping cloth around the fingers and cleaning the mouth and throat. If poison has come from a part of the plant, save the vomit as it may assist in identifying the medicine. As much as possible, keep the person comfortable, rolling them on to the left side until medical help arrives. Remove clothes and flush the skin with water if poison is spilled on the clothes. At all times, do not give mouth-to-mouth to the unconscious person. Call for the nearest first aid providers and let them finish the job.
On the other hand, if the person has inhaled poison, after seeking for medical help, remove the person from the area where he/ she has inhaled the gas, fumes or smoke only after notifying someone else and when safety of place is ensured. To remove fumes, open windows and doors. Take numerous deep breaths of fresh air and hold breath as one enters. Keep in place a wet cloth over the nose and mouth. Once the person is rescued, check for the person’s airway, breathing and pulse. If there is no pulse, commence CPR. Same procedure is done to a person who has swallowed poison.
These seemingly easy instructions cannot suffice for the information first aid. St Mark James programs are available almost all over the country.
[note color=”#69b6d0″]Basic First Aid references for this interesting article:[/note]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Internet]. 2011. Prescription painkiller overdoses in the US. Atlanta (GA): US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; [cited 2013 Jun 07] Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/poisoning/poisoning-factsheet.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Internet]. 2012.Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting Systems (WISQARS). Atlanta (GA): National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; [cited 2013 Jun 07] Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/poisoning/poisoning-factsheet.htm