Category: First aid blog

Carbon Monoxide is a deadly, odorless, gas. In this first aid blog post, we will look closer at carbon monoxide and why it is regarded as the ‘silent killer’. Carbon monoxide is a by-product...

In cases of electrical burns, damage is caused by electricity entering the body and traveling through the tissues. Injury results from the effects of the electricity on the function of the body organs and...

Burns are characterized, based on the depth of tissue damage and skin response, as superficial (first degree), partial thickness (second degree), or full-thickness (third-degree). Superficial burns result in only minor tissue damage to the...

The objective of splinting is to prevent motion in broken bone ends. Splinting is an effective first aid treatment for fractures. The nerves that cause the most pain in a fractured extremity lie in...

Injury to the cervical or thoracic spinal cord can produce neurogenic shock. Neurogenic shock results from the malfunction of the autonomic nervous system in regulating blood vessel tone and cardiac output. Classically, neurogenic shock...

A pulse oximeter is a noninvasive photoelectric device that measures the arterial oxygen saturation and pulse rate in the peripheral circulation. It consists of a portable monitor and sensing probe that clips onto the...

Cardiac tamponade (or “pericardial tamponade”) occurs when blood fills the ‘potential’ space between the heart and the pericardium, squeezing the heart and preventing the heart from filling with blood. The pericardium is a tough...

The airway begins at the tip of the nose and the lips and ends at the alveolocapillary membrane, through which gas exchange takes place between the air sacs of the lung (the alveoli) and...

Slings can be used to immobilize a variety of upper limb and arm injuries. Generally, the most effective sling is made with a triangular bandage. Most first aid kits will contain triangular bandages. Although...

Head injuries are either open or closed. depending on whether the object responsible for the injury compromised the skull and exposed the brain. Brain injury can also be divided into two components, primary and...

Diabetes is a condition which is caused by an imbalance of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Diabetic emergencies can appear in two forms hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (hyperglycemia). What is Hypoglycemia? Hypoglycemia...

A heart attack occurs when a coronary artery is suddenly blocked by a blood clot and heart muscle is damaged due to a lack of oxygen. Also known as a myocardial infarction (MI), a...

A stroke is a brain attack which occurs when brain cells become starved oxygen due to an interruption in blood supplying the brain. A stroke, like a heart attack, requires urgent time-critical medical attention....

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is the unexpected collapse of a patient whose heart has stopped pumping due to an electrical malfunction of the heart. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is not a heart attack, although a...