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Regardless how severe, all bleeding can be controlled. If left uncontrolled, bleeding may lead to shock or even death. Most bleeding can be stopped before the ambulance arrives at the scene. While you’re performing the steps for controlling bleeding, you should also be calling for an ambulance to respond. Bleeding control is only part of the equation.
The first step in controlling a bleeding wound is to plug the hole. Blood needs to clot in order to start the healing process and stop the bleeding. Just like ice won’t form on the rapids of a river, blood will not coagulate when it’s flowing.
The best way to stop it is to…stop it. Put pressure directly on the wound. If you have some type of gauze, use it. Gauze pads hold the blood on the wound and help the components of the blood to stick together, promoting clotting. If you don’t have gauze, terrycloth towels work almost as well.
If the gauze or towel soaks through with blood, add another layer. Never take off the gauze. Peeling blood soaked gauze off a wound removes vital clotting agents and encourages bleeding to resume.
Once bleeding is controlled, take steps to watch and treat for shock. If an oxygen unit is present do not hesitate to use until help arrives.
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How to help someone…
If a person collapses and seems unresponsive:
- Call 911. DO NOT WAIT. Try to pay attention to the time when the person collapsed, to tell EMS.
- Loosen their clothing and make sure they are lying down or seated in a comfortable position.
- If they do not appear to have a pulse, begin chest compressions; continue even if the person does not seem to be breathing. you DO NOT need to be certified in CPR.
- Stay with the person and ask a bystander to see if there is an emergency oxygen unit or an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) nearby.
- If you are in a building, call security and let them know exactly where you are.
- Stay with the person until EMS arrives, and make sure someone is sent to meet EMS and guide them to the location of the person.
After…There is value in CPR. Get familiar with this life saving technique. If you are a SOS customer CPR is included in your Medical Management Program. Call our office 604-277-5855 to schedule your training. You can also visit www.heartandstroke.ca and/or www.redcross.ca for more information.
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Businesses need to be encouraged to give employees more space, more personal equipment and more opportunities to wash their hands in order to minimize the impacts of a possible pandemic.
Businesses should not react but should already be developing a plan of action. If a pandemic erupts, employers must be ready to reduce interaction between workers to try to stop disease from spreading. There’s a lot of equipment which is used in most workplaces which is typically shared, be it manufacturing equipment, computers, tools, or telephones. As much as possible, the sharing of equipment should be minimized.
Viruses on hard surfaces can survive up to 48 hours, possibly infecting anyone else who touches the surface during that time.
Installing hand-washing stations, removing commonly used water fountains and giving employees enough workspace so that they are not subjected to the sneezes of adjacent colleagues are also key. Even in conference rooms and lunch areas, workers should be able to keep at least one metre away from anyone else – the estimated distance a sneeze or cough-propelled droplet of virus can travel.
These suggestions are not only geared toward pandemics, they can also reduce the transmission of the regular kind of flu that goes through workplaces every year.
While no one can predict when the next pandemic might break out, experts feel it is only a matter of time. If a pandemic erupts, businesses can expect up to a quarter of their workforce to be absent on any given day. Some workers will be ill while others will stay home to tend to relatives or because they fear catching the disease. There are usually about three pandemics a century – the most severe of the 20th century was the 1918 Spanish flu.
Business leaders have been looking for ways to ensure their enterprises can continue to function if a pandemic erupts, but warn that small companies may not be able to offer their employees dedicated equipment and separate work spaces.
Having employees wipe down hard surfaces such as, telephones, doorknobs, keyboards etc with products like ACCEL TB Spray and wipes would be helpful and ensure best practices of healthy workplaces.
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- Arrange meeting places
- Arrange out-of-area contacts
Everyone in your family and your workplace should know where the meeting place is. Planning secondary evacuation routes from high rise buildings can be challenging. Check with the building manager to find more information about evacuation plans.
Keep an out-of-area contact card in your wallet. These cards should have the name and number of your out-of-area contact on one side and your meeting places on the other. Go to www.myepplan.com to download the cards and fill them out.
Looking to connect with loved ones? Texting uses less cell phone power than calling, but messages may be delayed. If you have access to internet use Skype and Facebook.
Go Canucks Go!
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During a suspected asthma attack it is best not to give anything by mouth, except assisted ventilation in its worst stages. If this person is known to have a respiratory ailment and carries their own medication, follow the manufacturers instructions and assist the person to take it.
DO NOT delay in activating emergency services! Call 911 and tell the dispatcher that the person is having difficulty breathing. You can do something called SUPPORTIVE MEASURES. Be at their side, coach them in their breathing and ensure that they GET OXYGEN! If your workplace has an emergency oxygen unit get it on this person ASAP!
Loosen tight clothing around the chest and waist, make them comfortable, sit them straight up and slightly bent forward while supporting them, and most of all REASSURE them that help is on the way.
