First Aid

LESSON 9 min read How to Treat a Burn Cool the burn under cool running water for at least 10 minutes — never ice. Remove jewelry before swelling starts, then cover loosely with a sterile non-stick dressing. Get medical care for any burn larger than 3 inches, or on the face, hands, feet, genitals or a joint, and call 911 for third-degree, electrical or smoke-inhalation burns. Start → LESSON 8 min read Video How to Stop Bleeding Press firmly and directly on the bleeding point with a clean dressing and hold for at least 10 minutes without lifting to check. If blood soaks through, add a second dressing on top — never remove the first. Bright-red blood that spurts or pulses is arterial: call 911 and press hard now. Start → LESSON 7 min read Video How to Save a Choking Adult or Child If they can cough forcefully, encourage the cough and do not touch them. If they cannot speak or cough — or clutch their throat — call 911 and alternate 5 back blows between the shoulder blades, leaning them forward, with 5 abdominal thrusts just above the navel. If they stop responding, start CPR. Start → LESSON 7 min read Video How to Save a Choking Infant A choking baby strains to cough or cry with little or no sound. Lay them face down along your forearm, head lower than the chest, and give 5 back slaps between the shoulder blades; flip them face up and give 5 chest thrusts with the heel of one hand. Repeat until they cry, cough or breathe. Never use abdominal thrusts on an infant. Start → LESSON 4 min read Video How to Treat a Jellyfish Sting Get out of the water and rinse the sting with seawater, never fresh water. Lift off any visible tentacles with tweezers or a gloved hand rather than rubbing or scraping. Then immerse the area in hot water — as hot as is comfortably tolerated, about 104–113°F — for 20 to 45 minutes, which deactivates the venom and is the best pain relief the evidence supports. Start → LESSON 8 min read What Belongs in a First Aid Kit A complete home kit meets the ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 Class A baseline: adhesive bandages, gauze and trauma pads, adhesive tape, a roller and triangular bandage, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, burn dressing and burn packets, a cold pack, eye wash and eye coverings, non-latex exam gloves, a breathing barrier, hand sanitizer, scissors, and a first aid guide. Add your household’s own medications, keep it somewhere everyone can name, and audit it twice a year. Start → LESSON 7 min read Snake Bite First Aid Get out of the snake’s range and call 911 — antivenom at a hospital is the only treatment, so the field job is slowing the venom and getting help moving. Keep the person calm and completely still, immobilize the bitten limb, and strip rings and tight clothing before swelling starts. Do not cut, suck, ice, or apply a tourniquet: every one of those makes the injury worse. Start → LESSON 7 min read Video Allergic Reactions and How to Use an EpiPen Symptoms in two or more body systems — or any airway or circulation trouble — is anaphylaxis, and epinephrine is the only drug that reverses it. Grip the auto-injector in your fist with the orange tip down, pull off the blue cap, press it hard into the outer mid-thigh until it clicks (through clothing is fine), and hold 3 seconds. Then call 911 every time, lay them down with legs raised, and give a second dose if there is no improvement in 5 to 15 minutes. Start → LESSON 7 min read Heat Exhaustion or Heat Stroke? Heat exhaustion means heavy sweating, weakness, nausea, headache and a fast pulse in someone who is still thinking clearly — move them somewhere cool, have them rest, and give fluids. Heat stroke means confusion, slurred speech, stumbling, seizures or collapse, and it is a 911 emergency. Any change in how someone is thinking or behaving, in the heat, is heat stroke until proven otherwise. Call 911 and start cooling immediately — cold-water immersion if you can manage it — rather than waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Start →