Hey friends!
Welcome once again to “What to Do When…,” your go-to guide for handling emergencies with confidence.
On today’s episode, we’ll be discussing what to do when someone is poisoned.
Now, let’s play pretend for a second.
Simi is a five year old girl who is very curious and likes tasting different types of drinks and food. One day, she saw a blue bottle on the table at home, thought to herself, “This must be a drink Mummy bought for me” and took a big gulp. Simi has unknowingly drunk liquid bleach (sodium hypochlorite). Her throat and stomach begin to ache and she screams in pain for help.
If you are Simi’s aunt or friend, how would you help her?
What is poisoning?
Poisoning is injury or death due to swallowing, inhaling, touching or injecting various drugs, chemicals, venoms or gases. Children are particularly sensitive to even small amounts of certain drugs and chemicals.
What do you do when a person is poisoned?
To begin with, always remember that panicking can cloud your judgement and hinder your ability to help effectively. Hence, before taking any action, you would need to remain calm and assess the situation. Depending on the nature of the poison, signs and symptoms can include:
- pain, from the mouth to the abdomen
- vomiting
- drowsiness
- faintness
- tight chest and difficulty breathing
- headache
- odour of fumes
- sweating
- change of skin colour
- breath odour
- burns around and inside the mouth
- unconsciousness
GENERAL INITIAL ACTION
To begin with, you need to take some quick action to be able to further assess the cause of the signs.
- If the casualty is unconscious, place him or her in the lateral position, check the airway for any blockage then check if the person is breathing and begin CPR if necessary. If CPR is required, make sure you wipe any poisonous substance from the casualty’s mouth first so you don’t poison yourself also.
- If the casualty is unconscious, then you have to figure out what the drug or poison was. If conscious, you can ask the person what they took or you can check for liquids, bottles or substances close by. You could also take a whiff of the mouth to figure out what it could be.
Now, let’s look at the different types of poisoning that may occur, and what exactly to do.
Firstly, let’s talk about corrosive, petrol-based or unknown substances which is what Simi has ingested. Corrosives are substances, such as battery acid, dishwasher detergent, toilet cleaner and caustic soda, that burn tissues.
ACTION:
Warning: Firstly, do not induce vomiting because it could cause further damage to the tissues and the lungs!
Next, wash the casualty’s mouth and face cleaning off the substance. Do not give anything by mouth. Then, seek medical aid urgently.Another type of poison is inhaled poisons. Industrial gases, carbon monoxide (in car exhaust fumes) or the fumes cooking gas can cause poisoning.
Action:
To ensure not to breathe any toxic fumes or gas yourself, cover your mouth and nose with a wet handkerchief. Then ventilate the area thoroughly by opening windows and doors or move the casualty to an area with fresh air. Loosen any tight clothing that they have on. If the casualty is unconscious, place him or her in the lateral position, check the airway, breathing and pulse and begin CPR if necessary. Then, seek medical aid urgently.
Absorbed poisons through the skin is another cause of poisoning that is dangerous. Toxic chemicals, such as pesticides, can be absorbed through the skin and it may take some time before the symptoms become evident. So, check whether the casualty has been in contact with any poison from, for example, crop spraying.
Action:
Get the casualty to remove the contaminated clothing and footwear. If you need to help them, wear rubber gloves so you don’t poison yourself. Next, wash the contaminated skin thoroughly with soap and water (and later wash the contaminated clothes separately from other articles).
Then, seek medical aid if any of the signs or symptoms of poisoning occur. If you know the name of the chemical, let the doctor or hospital staff know.If the casualty becomes unconscious, place him or her in the lateral position, check the airway, breathing and pulse and begin CPR if necesfsary.
Poisoning often happens suddenly and accidentally but you can do something about it when armed with the right knowledge. With all you’ve learnt from this article, you should be able to help Simi or any other person that is poisoned.
I hope this has been an enlightening episode.
Stay tuned for the next one!
-Written by Akpan Anita and Uswah Balogun