Vim & Vigor - Fall 2011 - North Mississippi - (Page 22)

interactive Q| WHAT’S THE FIRST THING I SHOULD DO IN AN EMERGENCY? A: Evaluate scene safety. Your safety is top priority. If you become injured, you will double the need for resources and delay treatment for the victim. Before approaching an emergency scene, take a moment to check for hazards, such as ﬁre, downed power lines, toxic material and unstable vehicles. If you are unable to approach safely, call 911 and wait for professional help. Find health news, videos, recipes and other tools to help you lead a healthier life at www.nmhs.net/vimandvigoronline. Get a Daily Dose Online Q| MY CHILD JUST INGESTED A POISON. SHOULD I MAKE HIM VOMIT? Q| CPR EFFECTIVE? I S COMPRESSION-ONLY A: Yes. Experts have recognized that bystanders are often reluctant to begin CPR because of concerns about mouthto-mouth resuscitation. After ﬁguring some CPR was better than no CPR, experts wrote new guidelines advocating compressions only. Then a funny thing happened. “Once we studied it, we found we were getting as good or better success with chest compressions alone,” says Ryan Stanton, M.D., spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. “It seems that with compressiononly CPR, you still get some air into the lungs, and the continual compression without breaks for breaths keeps blood delivering oxygen to the brain.” A: No. Induced vomiting was once the accepted treatment for poisoning—so much so that every ER and household kept syrup of ipecac on hand. If you still have a bottle, ﬂush it. “A lot of things children swallow are more dangerous when they come back up,” Stanton says. “A good example is gasoline. As long as it stays down it’s not a huge issue, but if we make them vomit it can be aspirated into the lungs and then it’s very, very dangerous.” So what should you do? If your child is unconscious or having trouble breathing, call 911 immediately. Otherwise, remove the item from your child’s mouth and make your child spit out any remaining material. Call Poison Control (800-222-1222) with the container available so you can read the list of chemicals ingested. If you’re instructed to go to the hospital, be sure to take the container with you. teach Your child to dial 911 There are numerous stories in which very young children have dialed 911 and saved someone’s life, often a parent. Here are some 911 tips to teach your children. ✚ Call when an adult can’t wake up or there’s a fire or intruder in the home. ✚ Use your home phone so the address will be transmitted to emergency services. P ✚ ractice dialing 911 on an unplugged phone and describing the problem (“Mommy won’t wake up” or “the house is on fire”) in a clear voice. ✚ Emphasize that 911 should be called only in an emergency and only when an adult is not able to call. “How to call 911 in an emergency is an important skill to teach,” says Josh Wenzel, administrative director of Patient Placement and Transportation at North Mississippi Medical Center-Tupelo. “Even if they’re not able to give a lot of information, just getting 911 engaged and sending help can mean the difference between life and death.” PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHOTOLIBRARY 22 Vim & Vigor · FALL 2 011 http://www.nmhs.net/vimandvigoronline

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2011 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2011 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Stay Connected
We’re Here for You
How Tweet It Is
Healthy Hues
The New Survivors
First (Aid) Things First
Find Your Groove
A Healthy Tune
Stay in Circulation
‘X’ Marks the Spot
Pregnancy Predictors
Play It Safe
Good to Know
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2011 - North Mississippi