Accidents do happen - February 1998

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), no matter how careful you try to be, accidents will happen! So make sure you arm yourself with some first aid skills.

Accidents are more or less inevitable in our day-to-day lives: on average, nearly three million people go to hospital each year because of a domestic mishap. Distractions while cooking often lead to nasty cuts and burns, DIY can be full of calamities, and some accidents happen just because you're stressed, or in strange surroundings - at someone else's house perhaps. All of which just goes to show how important it is to know something of the basic skills of first aid.

In an emergency it is often the action of a first-aider which saves a life. The casualty may be suffering from shock as well as injury, so it is important to keep them calm until an ambulance or doctor arrives. Seriously injured people should not be moved, others need to sit or lie down.

First Aid kits should always be available at home, but better still is to have some basic training. The St John's Ambulance and Red Cross both run first aid courses - you can find their numbers in the phone book. If you don't want to go that far there are first aid manuals, but make sure they are approved by one of the above.

Here is some practical advice for one common problem.: If someone sustains a burn, pour cold water on to the injury for 10 minutes (20 minutes for a chemical burn), or until the pain disappears. It's important not to apply lotions or fat to the affected area, or to touch it or burst any blisters. Carefully remove any clothing and jewellery from the area before it swells, but don't remove anything sticking to the burn. Call for an ambulance if you think it necessary. Cover the burn with a sterile dressing, clingfilm or any clean piece of material, unless the burn is on the face, in which case just keep cooling the affected area with water until help arrives.

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