I'd hesitate about giving benadryl. It can be fine for mild problems, but if the person's airway is truly closing off, shoving something down it and trying to get them to swallow may be the proverbial "straw that broke the horse's back," and occlude that last little space they're breathing down.
That's a great point. I'd never give someone a pill to swallow if they were having breathing problems.
If the trauma center is 10 minutes away, and you're transporting by car, for the love of everything holy, CALL and let them know you're en route. 2 minutes of controlled prep will help a lot better than the catastrophic chaos of a "homeboy ambulance" delivery. Get the direct number if you can, even if it's to the charge nurse.
This was addressed at length in class. Ideally (assuming transport by private car) we have one person driving, one person treating the casualty, and one person navigating and being on the phone with the ER.
Some things he probably didn't add:
- keep the patient warm. Even in Iraq they should be keeping a blanket on folks Cooling off weakens blood clotting and jacks up the blood pH, making it easier to bleed.
This was covered briefly in class.
- I also like athletic tape. ANY plastic can work - bandage wrapper, sandwich bag, spare latex glove, 55-gal drum bag (probably should cut off the slack). You can seal the wound with a gloved hand while you get the bandage ready; ideally you'd have someone helping you.
I hadn't thought or heard of using athletic tape in this capacity, thank you.
- The 'flutter valve' concept is nice, but may not work. I've heard good and bad about it, and "tape on three sides" versus "tape all 4 sides" of a bandage arguments. Do whatever your local area EMS does.
For myself, I'm not enough in their confidence to know that. I'll have to see if I can find out.
-maybe add something to your liability waivers about the lack of immediate EMS, allowing you to perform basic first aid?
That's a very good idea.
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