First-Aid Topics
 

It has come to my attention, while responding to the FAK (home/vehicle) thread, there are many here who have never been in the medical field as a care giver and subsequently may lack sound first-aid training. While there are many good threads in this forum which cover a multitude of illnesses and injuries, from the perspective and training level of a wide range of medical fields, we rarely if ever cover the most basic of injuries and illnesses. I personally believe we may take for granted that everyone here is able to treat the most basic of scenarios given the advanced scenarios and subject matter we present here.

I would therefor like to put this out there. If there are any scenarios/illnesses/injuries anyone would like to see discussed, that has not been previously covered, please feel free to contact one of us with the request or post the question here in the open. We will help you where we can.


James D

1) Emergency snakebite treatment recommendations seem to change every few years. The snakebit kit you recommended seems like a great idea for my family, but in a situation where that is not available, nearest hospital is 30 minutes away after you reach a vehicle, and ambulance response time is 30 minutes on a perfect day. We have both copperheads and diamondback rattlers here. There was also a mature adult velvet tail rattler spotted last year, which is still around somewhere. 12 year old, 90 pounds, asthmatic male or 19 year old, 6', 230 pound male. Different treatments?

MCC-
Snake bite info thread

How about what to do about twisted ankles, knees etc ?

I play in an over 30 soccer league and with the horrible field we play on and the fitness level of a lot of the folks we wind up with a lot of injuries

Invariably there is the ' leave his cleats on ' ' no take them off ! ' debate that rages

So what should we do for a turned ankle or a twisted knee ?

Also our " First Aid Kit " is rarely anything more than one or two chemical ice packs

Oops. Caught me napping. :( Thanks for the link.

Here you go DunbarFC... I admit it is a little more severe an injury than you will likely see. Good info though. I can't remember offhand a specific one on ankles....

Twisted Knee


MCC- no problem. :cool:

Thanks Sac I appreciate it

We've seen some pretty nasty stuff over the years but that does take the cake

Thanks. Great thread on snakes...and just my kind, too, lol. I HATE those things.

I would be surprised if you encounter asthmatics as a routine in the field, but it concerns me that my son may have an unusually severe asthma attic as a result of trauma. While I am normally calm in the face of an emergency, that possibility is one I have been concerned about as he grows older and takes more risks. To date, the nebulizer has stabilized him enough to get him to the hospital, but I am not sure what to do if it didn't, other than call 911 and/or DRIVE, depending on the sitaution. I keep praying he will outgrow this, but he is almost thirteen and it hasn't lessened in severity.

DunbarFC:

Treatment for sprains and strains are pretty much the same. The biggest thing is knowing its a sprain/strain and not a fracture or some sort of other torn connective tissue. This cannot be done in the field.

Ok is there anyway right there with the poor guy sprawled out on the sidelines waiting for the game to end for someone to drive him to the hospital which it might be ?

HUH? I did not follow that at all.

Are there any signs to look for that would lead one to say this person needs to see a doctor now as opposed to waiting a bit

Is there anything to do for them besides here have an ice pack in the mean time

The level of injury will dictate when he should see a MD. Do you guys not have a sports trainer or anything out there with you?
If not, one of you should pony up and get some training.

A nice cheap SAM splint or 2 and roll of 4" elastic ace wrap for splinting.

Some common sense things...
 

with ankles...
1. Crunching noises are bad
2. If it no longer looks right-there is generally something wrong
3. Immediate swelling usually indicates a significant sprain secondary to the tearing of vascular structures. If it swells-radiate it.
4. With significant ankle injuries, always press on the top of the fibula (just below the knee on the outside)-enough torque can fracture the proximal tibia
5. If there is a cut on the suspected sprain...radiate it-it may be an open fracture that has receeded back into the skin.
6. Immobilize as close to 90 degrees as possible, make certain that the toes are still pink and the nails still blanch.

Ankle sprains suck...no getting around it.

Eagle

Thanks Eagle and Cric I apprecaite it

My league is definitely on the cheap - no uniforms so we don't have any trainers on the field

We did have a doctor on the team for a bit which was super handy - especially when my foot made that crunching snapping sound Eagle described a few years ago

Now it's just a short prayer and hope you don't hurt yourself.


I appreciate the advice , but I hope it doesn't sound bad if I say I hope I never have to use it !