First aid project - treating common injuries in the laboratory.
Free essay example:
First aid project
Common injuries in laboratories and the action to take:
Heat burns and scalds- 1. Lay down the injured person, making sure the burn/ scald does not come into contact with the ground.
2. Cool down the burn/scald with cold water (do this for around 10 minutes) 3. Remove clothing, rings, belts and anything around the burn, as the burn will start to swell 4. Cover the burn with a dressing. Make sure it is sterile so the burn does not get infected. 5. Call the emergency service, and whilst waiting make sure the casualty is breathing properly and monitor their pulse regularly.
Do not try to treat the burn/scald with any creams or oils
Chemical burns- 1. Take the injured person away from place where the accident happened to reduce potential risk to yourself 2. Remove any clothing that has chemical on it and take off anything else which has come into contact with the chemical 3. Wash the chemical burn with cold water for at least 20 minutes 4.Apply a cold, wet cloth to the burn 5. After all of the chemical is washed away and the burn is not painful, cover the it with a sterile dressing.
Injury from breathing in fumes or swallowing chemicals- 1. Make sure the casualty is able to breathe and, if necessary, clear their airway. Check their pulse and begin CPR if necessary, but do not give mouth to mouth so as to not put yourself at risk 2. Do not make the casualty throw up, unless the Poison Control tells you to do so. 3. If the person does throw up clear their airway, but wrap a cloth around your fingers first so that you will not get chemicals on your skin 4.Whilst waiting for medical help, make sure the person is comfortable, by rolling them onto their left side 5. If the chemical has spilled onto their clothes, remove them and wash the skin which came into contact with the chemical with cool water
Electric Shock- 1. Take the victim away from the source of energy, but make sure that you do not come into contact with the source of electricity 2. Turn off the source of electricity 3. Make sure the person is breathing, and begin CPR if it is necessary
4. Raise the victim’s legs and make sure the victim’s head is lower than his body
5. Put a blanket over the victim to keep him warm 6. Call the emergency service
Cuts and damage to eyes from particles or chemicals1.Particle in eye- Rinse out your eye with water until the particle has been washed out (for at least 15 minutes). If it does not wash out, bandage the eye loosely and look for medical help. Refrain from rubbing the eye as this could cause damage.
2. Chemical in eye- Go to the nearest water source. Tilt your head to the side on which the eye with the chemical in it is on. Open your eye and look into the water whilst rinsing it out (do this for at least 15 minutes). After you have washed out your eye seek medical attention. Do not rub or touch your eye as this could cause damage.
3. Cut in the eye- Loosely bandage the eye and seek medical attention. Do not rub, touch or rinse the eye with water.
Sites I have used for this project:
http://www.medindia.net/patients/Firstaid-chemicalburns.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000059.htm#First%20Aid
http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/poisoning-first-aid-dictionary.htm
http://www.indiaparenting.com/articles/data/art22_001.shtml
http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=4350
http://www.aid-training.co.uk/first-aid-training.asp?gclid=COao-9vFjpsCFU0B4wod7GSUoA
http://www.fato.co.uk/contact.htm
http://www.leven-first-aid.co.uk/links.htm
http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/contact-us.aspx
http://www.savlon.co.uk/contact/
http://www.firstaidtraining.org.uk/contact.htm
British Red Cross
UK Office address
British Red Cross
UK Office
44 Moorfields
London EC2Y 9AL
Switchboard
Tel: 0844 871 11 11 (+00 44 844 871 11 11 from abroad)
Fax: 020 7562 2000
Minicom: 020 7562 2050
Switchboard
Tel: 0844 871 11 11 (+00 44 844 871 11 11 from abroad)
Fax: 020 7562 2000
Minicom: 020 7562 2050
General enquiries
General enquiries about the work of the British Red Cross should be sent to information@redcross.org.uk, call 0844 412 2804 or write to Information Resources at the address above.
Aid-Training
Aid Training & Operations Ltd,
Crusader House, Centurion Way,
Crusader Business Park,
Warminster,
Wiltshire,
BA12 8BT
Tel: 01985 843100
Fax: 01985 843103
London Training Centre:
Suite 413/414
Crown House Business Centre
North Circular Road
London, NW10 7PN
Email: info@aid-training.co.uk
First Aid Training organization (FATO)
By phone: 020 8531 1847
By e-mail: info@fato.co.uk
By post: Hamilton House,
4, The Avenue,
Highams park,
London
E4 9LD
Leven First aid Training
Leven First Aid Training Organisation
65 The Elms
First Avenue
Bonhill
Dunbartonshire
G83 9BA.
St Johns ambulance
By phone:
020 7324 4000
By fax:
020 7324 4001
By post:
27 St John's Lane, London EC1M 4BU
Savlon First Aid
Novartis Consumer Health UK Limited
Wimblehurst Road
Horsham
West Sussex
UK
RH12 5AB
t. +44 (0)1403 210211
f. +44 (0)1403 323939
w.www.novartis.co.uk
First aid training
info@firstaidtraining.org.uk
Henry’s first aid training and qualifications
Henry's First Aid Training & Qualifications
32 Fivestanks Place
Broxburn
West Lothian
Scotland
EH52 6BJ
+44 (0) 7956 816101
info@henrysfirstaid.co.uk <info@henrysfirstaid.co.uk
It is useful to have a first aid course because someone might have an accident and if you have a first aid course you can help them and could save their life. Also if you have a first aid qualification you can get a job or have a better chance of getting a job. If you work in a laboratory it is important that you have first aid course because there is a risk that someone could swallow chemicals, get them in their eye or burn their skin.
Also there are lots of chemicals and electrical equipment used by the water in experiments so there is a risk of an electric shock.
This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Organic Chemistry section.
Here's what a star student thought of this essay
Response to the question
The candidate has written a fairly detailed yet easy to follow list of instructions telling people what to do in common laboratory casualty situations. They have occasionally given reasoning for the actions, such as telling them to ensure the dressing ...
Read full reviewResponse to the question
The candidate has written a fairly detailed yet easy to follow list of instructions telling people what to do in common laboratory casualty situations. They have occasionally given reasoning for the actions, such as telling them to ensure the dressing is sterile 'so the burn does not get infected', which gives the first aider useful information and reminds them of the importance of following the instructions exactly.
Level of analysis
The instructions clearly set out, with no ambiguity, what to do in each situation. They mention how to minimise the risks to the first aider - 'wrap a cloth around your fingers first so that you will not get chemicals on your skin' - which is very important to include, as the most important thing in such a situation is to prevent anyone else, including the first aider, getting harmed. However, occasionally they have shown a lack of thought in their analysis of a situation, for example suggesting the first aider 'takes the victim away from the source of energy' i.e. touch the person being electrocuted, before turning off the electricity supply! They have also instructed the first aider to call the emergency services in every situation, when an ambulance is not really required for a small scald. It would have been better to give information about how to categorise injuries depending upon how serious they really are and so describe which injuries require specialist medical attention, and those which would heal fine on their own.
They have also mentioned what to avoid doing - 'do not try to treat the burn/ scald with any creams/ oils' - which is very important to prevent the first aider doing the wrong thing due to a misconception as to what one should do in the situation.
Quality of writing
The candidate has shown good spelling and grammar throughout, and the instructions are fairly easy to follow. However, the numbered instructions would be easier to read if they were on separate lines, and the headings are not very clear - perhaps a different font colour and size would solve this.
The images used are not particularly useful - it would have been better to replace the image of test tubes with a diagram showing how to do CPR or put someone in the recovery position, for example. However, the electric shock warning sign is probably quite useful as it grabs the first aiders attention to warn them about a risk.
The candidate has ended with a list of sources which were used to create the instructions. This is very important to avoid plagiarism and credit the original writers for their work. They could potentially have improved their referencing by including wikipedia-style '[1]' notes in the text itself, however in this particular example these would have interrupted the instructions and potentially confused the first aider, so are probably not necessary.
They have ended the coursework with a short paragraph seemingly trying to persuade the reader to do a first aid course. Although a first aid course would help in the case of a casualty, it would have been better to include this paragraph in a more conventional position - before the list of references - so it is more likely to be seen.
Did you find this review helpful?
Join our team of reviewers and help other students learn
Reviewed by dragonkeeper13 16/07/2012
Read less
