Stay Safe This Bonfire Night With These Simple Tips

The season is well and truly upon us already and Bonfire Night is fast approaching so here at EPIC, we provide you with the rules and regulations to ensure that you stay safe at your event.

Some things may appear to be like teaching granny how to suck eggs but you would be surprised at the number of queries we get annually about this very subject.

As with most things today, prevention is better than a cure. But, ultimately you don’t need someone spouting ‘I told you so’ when you have a burn victim to deal with so we will make this as simple as possible.

If you are having a few people round for your Bonfire Night event this year, it would be beneficial to create your own ‘First Aid Kit’ and it will work out a great deal cheaper than buying a pre-selected kit.

• Sterile saline solution
• Cling film or any sort of food film wrap
• Moist burn pads or skin pads which are widely available across the UK
• Aloe Vera cooling gel – choose one with ‘Aloe Vera as the first ingredient
• Paracetamol tablets
• Blunt tipped scissors – these will be particularly useful for removing clothing without causing additional injury or pain

Minor Burn advice:

• Rinse the injured part under cool (not freezing cold) water for 10 minutes
• Try to remove any jewelry or clothing from the affected area before the swelling appears – once cooled cover with the Aloe Vera and cling film or one of the specialist burn/skin pads
• If the burn is larger than your hand or appears to be particularly deep, seek medical attention as soon as possible
• If the victim is a child or an elderly person, we would recommend that you check with your health professional – if in doubt contact 111 for NHS choices service who will be able to point you in the right direction

Major Burn advice:

The same as Minor but automatically call 999 and do not give the patient anything to eat or drink until the emergency services arrive.

If the burns are widespread, use buckets of water or a hose pipe to cool the injury as much as possible whilst waiting for the specialists to arrive.

In the worst case scenario, digits have been lost from hands and feet as a result of stupidity or accident but prompt medical assistance may enable the medical team to re-attach the fingers or toes.

• Call 999
• Lay the victim down and raise the injured part
• Remove any visible foreign objects from around the wound which could potentially end up causing problems
• Apply pressure to the wound for 15 minutes and then release for 2 minutes and then re-apply. This ensures that blood flow can be maintained and will assist in re-attachment.
• Retrieve the missing digit and rinse it clean (do not scrub) and then wrap in a damp, clean cloth and make sure that the emergency service personnel have it with them when they leave. DO NOT USE ICE – this will damage the blood vessels and prevent any possibility of re-attachment.

And finally, eye injuries.

• Rinse out the eye with lots of cool water or saline solution
• Check the eye out using a light to see if there is any penetration of it
• Seek immediate medical assistance if the patient’s vision is blurred or impaired or there is evidence of a foreign object still in the eye which cannot be removed by flushing.
• If there is clearly something protruding from the eye leave it alone, get a wad of clean lint and transport the patient to the hospital for treatment

Hopefully, as in past years your Bonfire Night will proceed without any such information being necessary but harking back to my Girl Guide days its better to be prepared.