First Aid/Wilderness First Aid

 First Aid 

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Introduction — Issues in Providing Care — Primary Assessment & Basic Life Support — Secondary Assessment — Circulatory Emergencies

Respiratory Emergencies — Soft Tissue Injuries — Bone & Joint Injuries — Environmental Illness & Injury

Medical Conditions & Poisoning — Advanced Topics — Appendices — Meta pages

Wilderness first aid is the practice of first aid where definitive care is more than one hour away, and often days to weeks away. The practice of wilderness first aid is defined by difficult victim access, limited equipment, and environmental extremes.

Animal bites

Know the venomous animals in your area.

Animal bites by any mammal should be considered possible cases of rabies. Prophylactic rabies treatment is recommended in most cases.

Treat for bleeding, and bandage the wound loosely.

Snakes

Many snake bites, even by venomous snakes, are not envenomed, and these can be treated as normal animal bites.

Croatilid (rattlesnake and pit-viper) venoms cause the bitten area to turn green or purple. Elapsid (coral and monay other non-U.S. snakes) venoms cause swollen lymph nodes. If symptoms appear, they should be treated by compressing and cooling the bite and evacuating the victim, on a litter if possible. If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, may help slow venom. The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. A good rule of thumb is to make the band loose enough that a finger can slip under it.

Spider & Scorpion

The black widow spider, and some scorpions are dangerous - mostly to small children and elderly adults. Only the Sydney funnel-web spider of Australia is frequently dangerous to adults, and it resides only within 100 miles of Sydney, Australia. Treatment is identical to that of a snake-bite.

Tick Removal

A female (large) and male (small) tick.

If a tick is found attached to the body, seek assistance from medical authorities for proper removal, or follow these guidelines.

1. Grasp the tick's mouthparts with a set of special tick tweezers - be very careful not to grab the body.
2. Pull the mouthparts straight back in the direction they entered the skin with even pressure
3. The mouthparts are quite difficult to remove, and are often very long; be patient and use steady, even pressure
4. Pull gently but firmly; if you pull with too much force, you will detach the mouthparts from the rest of the tick. If the mouthparts stay embedded in the skin, they can very easily kindle an infection
5. Do not use flame or substances such as nail polish remover or bug spray
6. If you must, use fingernails to grasp the tick's mouthparts
7. Wash the area and your hands thoroughly with soap and water once you've finished

 

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Advanced Topics 

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Wilderness First Aid — Marine First Aid — Extended Assessment

Airway Management — Oxygen Administration — Automated External Defibrillation — Triage