What are the relationship between poisoning and accidental first aid

Poisoning itself is one of the most common types of accidental emergencies. Poisoning first aid itself is the core branch of the accidental first aid system. The two are nested rather than separated. There is no completely independent operation method in actual treatment. They all first follow the general life-saving principles of accidental first aid, and then superimpose the exclusive treatment logic of poisoning scenarios.

Last week, I followed the site’s warning about accidentally ingesting toilet cleaning liquid. The family members were waiting downstairs in a panic, saying that they had induced vomiting on their child. My heart sank at that time - toilet cleaning liquid is a strong acid corrosive poison, and inducing vomiting will cause the refluxed strong acid to burn the esophagus and throat for a second time. This is because ordinary people do not understand the relationship between the two, and their experience in dealing with ordinary food poisoning is messed up. When we arrived at the scene, the first step was to follow the procedures common to all accidental first aids. We first checked the child's consciousness, whether the airway was clear, whether the breathing and pulse were stable, and stabilized the vital signs before we dared to give warm milk to neutralize the strong acid in the stomach. We monitored the child all the way and sent him to the emergency room for further treatment. Fortunately, he was sent early and nothing serious happened to the child in the end.

There are actually different opinions on the treatment logic of the two in the industry. Some experts in popular science advocate that poisoning first aid should be separated from ordinary accident first aid for special publicity. After all, many poisoning treatment methods are completely opposite to ordinary accidents. For example, ordinary bumps and bleeding need to stop bleeding, but if the skin comes into contact with corrosive poisons, the first time is to wash it instead of cover it. If you bandage according to the ordinary trauma method, the poison will be trapped in the skin and aggravate the burn. Two years ago, there was an old man in our jurisdiction who accidentally took paraquat. His family members gave him soapy water to induce vomiting. His already burned esophagus was directly perforated, and he was not saved in the end. It was a pity. However, many of our front-line colleagues in the hospital feel that there is no need to completely separate the situation. Ordinary people are confused when encountering emergencies. They cannot accurately judge whether it is poisoning or what type of poisoning it is at the first time. It is better to first engrave the general principles of emergency first aid into their minds, such as "do not blindly rescue, protect breathing and heartbeat first, and call 120 as soon as possible", which can avoid most secondary injuries.

I have been practicing first aid for almost 6 years. To be honest, I think both statements have practical truth. When you actually go to the scene, you will find that the most reliable logic is to embed the two together. For example, the young man who was admitted to the hospital last month and was poisoned by hand bruises had hallucinations when he was delivered. He was twitching and shouting that there were dwarfs surrounding him. We first followed the general emergency first aid procedures and turned his face sideways to prevent vomit from choking the trachea, and then used A tongue depressor was used to prevent him from biting his tongue. After stabilizing his vital signs, he was given the special treatment for poisoning: gastric lavage via gastric tube, injection of the corresponding antidote, and hemoperfusion to remove toxins from the blood after he was sent to the hospital. None of these steps would work. To use an inappropriate analogy, the general principles of accident first aid are like the basic operating system of a mobile phone. Poison first aid is an exclusive APP corresponding to the scene. No matter how smoothly the APP runs, the system must first be turned on normally. If the basic vital signs cannot be stabilized, no matter how precise the detoxification plan is, it will be useless.

If you encounter an accident that is suspected of poisoning, don't just induce vomiting or feed the person. Move the person to a ventilated place first. If you are conscious, ask what you have eaten and touched. Keep the remaining poison or vomitus for the doctor, and leave the rest to professionals. It is much more reliable than blindly checking your mobile phone and doing it yourself.