Domestic emergencies
definition
Domestic emergencies are situations that suddenly occur in the home environment, which require immediate medical attention, as there is a risk to the health or life of the patient.
Also read that Articles on the topic: First aid
General
Under domestic emergencies one summarizes a variety of Accidents and dangerous situations that occur in the home environment and require immediate medical attention. Are important Scalds and Burns which can be caused by fireplaces, stoves or spilled cooking water. But injuries from sharp or pointed kitchen instruments can also lead to a domestic emergency. In the event of burns or scalds, immediate cooling is essential. Is the skin closed over the area, you can cool with running water. It is about open injuries, a sterile bandage must be applied and an ice pack placed on top. Bleeding injuries have to come to a standstill, possibly with aPressure connection, to be brought. Also Falls often occur at home, especially in older people. This is feared here Femoral neck fracturewhich can lead not only to heavy bleeding, but also to complicated treatment processes in the subsequent hospital treatment.
It is important to clarify the cause of the fall. If the patient can no longer remember the process, it is from someone unconsciousness caused by a seizure or by Circulatory disorders to go out. A CT of the head to the exclusion of Cerebral hemorrhage and a Ultrasonic the vessels to exclude the circulatory disorders are arranged in this case.
Also Cardiac arrhythmias can lead to unconsciousness with associated falls. For this reason, an EKG should always be written.
Power accidents there are also more frequent ones, but most of them go out lightly and without dangerous arrhythmias or burns. Poisoning and Drown mostly take place in households with young children. Particularly unsupervised children or surroundings with unsecured garden ponds and accessible household or medicine cabinets represent a great danger. With 4500 drowning accidents in Germany in year it is a relatively common cause of accidents.
Poisoning have to go to the clinic immediately either Vomit, by pumping out the Stomach or be treated by hemodialysis. Even after drowning accidents and first aid measures initiated immediately, the child must be brought to the clinic for supervision.
Another domestic emergency represents that Swallow or that Suffocation Especially hastily swallowed large bites can esophagus (Bolus death) or the windpipe embarrassed and sometimes lead to acute and life-threatening situations. If the Secretly handle should be with a Ventilation started to advance the bolus into the lung to convey in. The last chance is offered by Chest compressions.
In general, it should be noted that in domestic emergencies, keep calm and talk to the patient calmly. The ambulance who was there about the Call 112 to be communicated should the question: What happened, where did it happen? how many people are involved? answered calmly, briefly and concisely. It is important to give the exact address without which no emergency doctor can go out. Domestic emergencies occur frequently every day in Germany. However, very few make an emergency doctor call necessary. Especially Drowning accidents unfortunately have a relatively poor survival rate as patients are often discovered too late.
General procedure for domestic emergencies
For emergencies that take place at home, always after same scheme be proceeded. Although the actions vary from illness to illness, certain initial measures should be taken in each emergency.
An emergency doctor should definitely have that Call 112 be understood. The person called will always ask the same questions, which you can briefly prepare for before the call. You should be able to tell what happened, where it happened and how many are involved. When describing it, you should limit yourself to short, concise representations in order not to lose unnecessary time.
In any case, it is important not to forget the address and the place of residence. If the information is incomplete and you hang up the phone immediately, no ambulance can move out.
During the entire situation one should remain calm and also talk to the injured person in a calming manner.
The vital parameters should be monitored regularly. This includes the pulse and the breathing. If one of the two or both is no longer available, the Cardiovascular resuscitation to be started. If there is breathing and a pulse is palpable, but the patient is unconscious, he should go into the stable side position to prevent the tongue from obstructing the airway. Even if it is Burns, Scalds or Cuts the vital signs should be checked. Before the emergency doctor arrives, the front door should be unlocked and a second helper should be commissioned to receive the ambulance on the street.
Drown
Mostly are just children affected by these types of domestic emergencies. However, with up to 4,500 children per year in Germany, it is a relatively common domestic accident. The cause are mostly unsupervised children who are mostly on garden pond play, fall into it and disappear under the water without the parents noticing. A lot of time often goes by until the parents inspect the garden pond in search of the children.
The child must immediately be pulled out of the water and the Vital signs to be controlled. This includes checking the Breathing and heartbeat. Appropriate resuscitation measures must be initiated immediately. An emergency doctor must be notified immediately. It comes to one resuscitation of the child, the patient will in any case be admitted to hospital for supervision.
Suffocation
With 400-800 cases in Germany in the year domestic emergencies caused by swallowing tend to be rarer but by no means impossible. Most often, large bites are produced when eating and swallowing Obstructions of the airways or the esophagus. If the esophagus is completely blocked, it can put pressure on the one supplying the heart Vagus nerve come with sudden heart failure (Bolus death). The patient will collapse immediately in this case. At a Obstruction of the airways, he will to cough, choke and with great fear try to get the bite out of the throat. With the so-called Secretly handle, with the first aider standing behind the patient, grasping him from behind and both arms under the diaphragm should make jerky upward movements merging them, an attempt can be made with the generated overpressure to convey the bite out.
Domestic emergencies from kitchen appliances
General
Injuries in the household can also often occur (domestic emergencies) that can occur on the sometimes very sharp and pointed kitchen appliances. Many very hot kitchen appliances are still operated electrically today, which cannot make an immediate stop possible. Often it happens to Cuts on kitchen knives, Bread slicers or electric cutting knives. In very extreme cases, limbs can even be severed.
method
It is important to first display the corresponding kitchen appliance or to move away from the danger zone. After that, bleeding should be stopped if there are cuts. This should always be done with sterile pads from the first aid kit. In the case of venous bleeding, firm pressure is usually sufficient for a few minutes. However, it may still be necessary to sew, which should then be carried out in the nearest hospital.
A pressure bandage should be applied in the event of spurting arterial bleeding. This is divided into a sterile pad directly on the wound, on top of which a firm pressure-releasing object, and a bandage on top that fixes everything. Call an emergency doctor in the event of arterial bleeding.
When limbs are severed, an emergency doctor should always be called. The severed body part must be kept and refrigerated until the emergency doctor arrives. In the event of any injuries, it should be checked whether an appropriate tetanus vaccination is available. Venous bleeding, which can initially be stopped itself but does not heal, should also be assessed by a doctor in the family doctor's practice, as the wound may need to be sutured.
Injuries to fingers are common in the kitchen, but also when working in the garden. Depending on the extent of the injury, the finger may no longer be worth preserving and must be amputated.
Read on below: Amputation of a finger
Electricity accident
General
Especially with smaller children, accidents occur from time to time Power contact caused. Despite all safety measures on power sources and sockets, it can in principle always happen that a child comes into contact with electricity. Most of the time the children get frightened, pull back their hand and start crying or screaming.
method
First, the child should be reassured and any injuries at the point of entry examined. You should also feel the child's pulse immediately afterwards and some time later. In some cases it also occurs in adults Convulsions in connection with the power contact.This keeps the patient in close contact with the power source and does not detach from it. In this case, a second rescuer should immediately unscrew the fuse and pull the patient away from the power source. In this case, an emergency doctor should be called as soon as possible, as this type of electrical accident can be dangerous Cardiac arrhythmias and Cardiac arrests being able to lead. In the event of an electrical accident, there is a risk of burns, some of which can be extremely severe, including cardiac arrest and death.
Falls
General
Falls are among the most common injuries in a home environment that represent an emergency. Especially elderly are very vulnerable to falls. They arise from carelessness or overconfidence, and mainly take place on stairs or ladders. Often those affected can no longer state the reason for the fall. In some cases, those affected lose that balance, slip or pass out.
This is to be inquired about during the examination in any case, as an unconsciousness one Seizure or a circulatory disorder could be the cause. There is a risk of falling if you fall uncontrollably onto angular, hard or pointed objects or surfaces. If an unconsciousness has preceded, the patients are no longer able to catch themselves to an adequate degree or important body regions such as the head, to protect. In this case, hard, uncontrolled impact occurs, with sometimes very serious injuries. Other falls can be mild with Sprains, Ligament stretching or Broken bones accompanied. One of the most dreaded falls is the resulting fall of old people Femoral neck fracture, as there can often be complications with hospital care.
method
To Falls of unknown cause a doctor should always be consulted or an emergency doctor should be called. The situation is difficult with people living alone who have suffered a break or injury as a result of a fall. They should try to get a phone to alert the ambulance. If this is not possible, you should try to call the neighbors loudly. It makes sense to participate in one of the numerous monitoring systems in old age, where you can get help immediately at the push of a button.
The Treatment of the casualty depends entirely on the type of fall, the patient's condition and the injuries. If the head is involved, it probably becomes one Computed Tomography (CT) to rule out bleeding in the brain. If mainly bones are involved, one becomes X-ray of the corresponding area are sufficient. Shortened and outwardly turned thighs always indicate a femoral neck fracture that requires surgical treatment. If the patient cannot remember how the accident happened, the should after a circulatory disorder Carotid arteries (With Ultrasonic) or one Cardiac arrhythmia (with ECG). In a very large number of cases, unconsciousness resulting in a fall is caused by a sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
