First Aid is an extremely valuable skill. It allows you to assist anyone suffering from either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery.
Accidents can occur at any moment and we can never predict when someone is going to sustain an injury or become ill. However, we can educate and prepare ourselves so that we can confidently step forward and offer support to injured casualties if necessary.
There are a number of helpful things we can do to ensure that we know what to do if we or somebody else sustains a certain injury. Common injuries include damage to the skin causing bleeding, fracturing bones, or damaging muscles.
Something to keep in mind when dealing with an injury involving a sprain or strain to a muscle, tendon or ligament is the acronym RICE.
What Does RICE Stand For?
RICE is an acronym for a type of treatment used for sprains and strains. The treatment can be used at the time of the injury and during recovery time at home to manage symptoms. Using the RICE technique will help reduce swelling, ease pain, and speed up healing.
Rest
Avoid using the injured area. Do not put unnecessary weight on the area and remember that doing too much and overusing the area when you are in pain will slow down your recovery.
ICE
Apply ice to the injured area to reduce pain and swelling. Make sure that the ice is not touching the skin directly. Use a thin towel or something similar to protect the skin. Hold the ice on the area for around 10 minutes to relieve pain and swelling and do not do this for a prolonged amount of time.
COMPRESSION
Wrap the injured area with an elastic medical band (not too tightly) to further prevent swelling. Wrapping the bandage too tight could interrupt blood flow.
ELEVATE
Raise the injured area to a level above the heart whenever possible. This will help reduce pain, throbbing and swelling. If the injured area was on your leg, this could be done by lying back on the sofa and elevating your leg using a cushion. By using these methods yourself or suggesting them to someone else who is injured will ensure a speedy recovery with as little pain as possible.
Get In Touch
Interested in undertaking one of our First Aid Courses in Wirral? Call us today on 0151 343 0588 to learn more. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected] and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
