Emergency Medical situations can happen to anyone. Many of us are under a wrong impression and belief, that it will happen to others but never to me. Some feel, let me look at it when it happens. This carelessness can cost a person’s life. It is a must, we all learn about common emergency situations, and what needs to be done. Who knows, it can even be helpful to save your own life.
So what are the common medical situations? We researched a lot and came up with top 9 emergency situations that have high probabilities to happen at any time. In this article, we will go through each of them, and how you can handle those situations more effectively. Also, we will go through some tips that will effectively prevent these types of emergencies.
Stomach Pain
It’s important to figure out the real reason behind stomach pain. Old age people, in particular, should not take it carelessly, and brush it aside as an acidity problem. Two significant signs of heart attacks are stomach pain and burning sensation in the chest.
When there is a stomach pain, the person must drink some warm water or antacid (15ml). If the pain starts to diminish, then it is more likely an ordinary stomach pain, caused due to indigestion or acidity. If the pain continues at the same intensity, then it could be some other problem.
Hypoglycemia
This problem is more prevalent among diabetes patients, and people who take insulin. Sometimes, if the person fails to eat or delays his or her food after the intake of insulin, the blood sugar levels start to drop drastically. This condition is what we call as “Hypoglycemia”. If the person feels like fainting, he or she immediately needs to be given sugar, juice, chocolates or foods rich in sugar. This will increase the glucose levels in the blood, and the person gets back to normal. If necessary, they need to be taken to a hospital.
Insect bites
Some people are very allergic to insect bites. It can lead to blisters or rashes all over their skin surface. It will cause skin irritation, and even burning sensation. They can take an Antihistamine tablet at these times, and rush to a Doctor for further treatment. Some insect bites can be highly toxic, so it’s necessary to take the person to a hospital immediately within 30 minutes of the bite.
Babies crying out loud at night
Babies who cry out really loud at night needs to be dealt with at most care. Check if there are any insect bites anywhere in the body. If the babies cry out loud by keeping their hands over ears, take them to a hospital immediately. In this case, do not provide any home remedies for the baby like inserting earbuds, or pouring oil into the ears etc.. Sometimes this can damage their eardrums, and they might lose their hearing ability. If the baby vomits while crying, it could be due to indigestion. They can be given a little warm water to drink and should be taken to a Doctor.
Epilepsy
- Keep away the objects that can potentially injure the victims of epilepsy.
- Provide them a soft pillow or soft cloths to rest their rest.
- After epilepsy, they need to made to lie down on their left side.
- If the person has a history of epilepsy, then they can be given Diazepam tablet, which would have been prescribed by the Doctor.
What should not be done?
- The person with epilepsy should not be given any metal objects like keys, knives etc. Because it can injure them.
- They should not be given any water immediately. It can lead to cardiac arrest.
- Do not postpone the visit to the hospital after epilepsy. Take them to a hospital as soon as possible, and give them necessary treatments.
Wheezing
When patients of Asthma and allergies are exposed to environments with high levels of smoke and dust, they will have a serious problem with breathing. Patients with Asthma should be immediately moved to a clean air environment, and they need to be given medications which were prescribed by their Doctor. They can use their inhaler or nebulizer. If the wheezing is combined with vomiting, and severe sweating, then there could be problems with their heart or kidneys. So, they need to be taken to a hospital immediately.
Stroke
It is better to consult a Doctor immediately, after the initial symptoms of stroke, like looking in one direction, loss of sense to one side of the body etc.. Because, if the right treatment is provided to that person within 4 hours of initial stroke, it is relatively easy to get them back to normal. Else, the task will become much harder. Avoid first aids like place ice cubes over the person’s head.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
The person must be immediately shifted to a safe environment.
Victims of sudden cardiac arrest will faint immediately. No muscles in their body will show signs of movement. It needs to be tested if the person is still conscious. Without any second thought, give them CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation). This done by, keeping both the palms one over the other on the center part of the chest, and pressing it repeatedly. Blow air into a person’s mouth after every 30 presses. The count rate for presses should be between 100 to 120 per minute.
Keep talking to the victim and check if there are any reactions. Check if there is any pulse in the neck region. If there is none, start the CPR immediately.
After 2 minutes, check if the heartbeat has returned, if it doesn’t keep continuing CPR till the person gets back his heart beat.
After the first aid, take the person immediately to a hospital without any delay.
Heart Attack
- Heaviness in the chest, pain in hands and shoulders, sweating too much, Pain between the lower jaw to lower abdomen are the symptoms of heart attack.
- Heart attack patients will have consciousness. They will try to communicate their pain through words or signs.
- The First step will be making them sit in an airy environment.
- They should not be given water, soda or fruit juices. This can lead to cardiac arrest.
- Give them an aspirin 300mg tablet immediately. It will prevent blood clots.
- A person with heart attack must be immediately taken to a hospital.
Basic Life Support
Medical conditions like heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest, blood pressure, electrical shock, accidents, and injuries can happen at any time. Learning the first aid treatments for these conditions is what we call as Basic Life Support.
Where can we learn this?
People in medical fields, medical colleges, schools, IT companies and a variety of other places provide this training. Apart from this, any literate person can approach a hospital near their home with an emergency care unit, and get a free consultation from Doctors there, and get their advice on where they can get this training.
What are the ways to prevent emergencies?
- Avoid eating stomach full at night, also do not get to sleep immediately after food.
- Do not practice extreme workouts at night. It is enough if you can go for a 10-minute walk to aid digestion.
- Tight clothes at nights must be avoided. Wear loose cotton clothes.
- Provide information about yourself at hospitals near your home.
- Do not ignore your regular medicines at night due to tiredness or sleep.
- Call an ambulance as soon as there is an emergency situation, and start the first aid.
- Provide first aid only if you are fully knowledgeable about it.
