What You Can Do During the Most Common Accidents

Every year, injury from an accident affects millions of U.S. citizens. These incidents happen suddenly and most often take place away from home. Being mindful of your surroundings can prevent you from falling prey to an accident. If an incident does happen, knowing how to respond can reduce the severity of the injury and maybe save a life.

Here are the most common types of accidents that strike people and ways someone can respond to help the situation.

Common Accidental Injuries

Thirty million people experience an accident every year in the U.S., most resulting in injuries requiring urgent medical care. The CDC reports that over 30,000 people die from what people assume are simple injuries.

1. Slips and Falls
2. Hit or Struck by Something
3. Chemical or Thermal Burn
4. Car Accidents
5. Food Poisoning
6. Pedestrian/Bicycle Accidents

General First Aid Tips

When such an event takes place, seek medical help immediately. After doing that, you can take steps to mitigate the damage. The American Red Cross recommends the following steps anyone can do.

1. Cover any open wound to stop the bleeding. Make sure to apply pressure and bandage the dressing. If anything is in the wound, leave it there for the professionals to handle. Removing it could make matters worse.
2. Do not attempt to help a burn victim if you do not know what to do, as your help could worsen the situation. Remove the cause of the burn if you can do so safely. Water will soothe or cool the burn damage on the skin. Apply a loose dressing to the site and monitor the victim until help arrives.
3. If poisoning of any kind happens, call the National Poison Control center at 1-800-222-1222 to get advice on what to do next. They can help you identify the type or cause of poisoning if you haven’t already done so. Call 911 if you find the person unconscious or take the victim to the nearest hospital if you are able to.
4. For falls that result in injury to the head, neck, or back, you should not move them regardless of how you found them. Help stabilize their head however you find it. You can do this with your hands or legs or by using a pillow or blanket.
5. If a person is choking, hit the person with an open palm five times on the back while they are bending over. If this fails, administer the Heimlich by standing behind them and placing your fist, just below the rib cage and thrust upward five quick times. Repeat until either the object comes out or help arrives.
6. If the injury left the victim unconscious, try to tap them awake, but be careful not to jar them. If no obvious injury to the neck, head, or spine is present and the victim is lying on their stomach, carefully roll the person over while securing the head and spine in a straight line. To ease breathing, tilt the head slightly back.

The Red Cross suggests that everyone take a CPR class to make sure they are ready for an accidental injury. Doing this could be the difference between victims living or dying, so it’s a class worth your time. If someone you love has been wrongfully injured, call our Seattle injury lawyers today.