3 Emergency Medical Tips Every Family Needs To Know

Most of us will encounter a medical emergency in someone that we know at least once in our lives. Knowing how to react in an emergency can ultimately be the difference between life and death. Here are three emergency medical tips that every family should know.

Always Have A Plan

The most important thing you can do to ensure that your family is safe in a medical emergency is to make sure that everyone in your household knows what to do in an emergency. Even young children should know to get an adult if there is a problem or to contact the emergency services themselves.

Having a plan also enables people to remain calm, which will help them to respond to the emergency in the right way. For example, if you would like to avoid the emergency room in an emergency, especially now Covid-19 is spreading, you can turn to an emergency room alternative like The Urgency Room. Using an emergency room alternative also enables you to avoid the long waits that many ERs suffer from.

Make A Home First Aid Kit

Every home needs to have a first aid kit. Your first aid kit should contain all of the essentials that you need to deal with both major and minor medical issues. For example, your first aid kit should contain band-aid of various shapes and sizes, as well as sterile gauze dressings that you can use to patch up more serious wounds.

You will also want to include disposable sterile gloves along with everything that you need to sterilize wounds. This includes antiseptic cream and alcohol-free cleaning wipes. It is a good idea to include some sticky tape and scissors as this can make applying dressings much easier, especially for younger family members.

Something that many people overlook in their home first aid kits is eye dressings. Not only should you have at least two sterile eye dressings in your kit, but you should also include eyewash and an eye bath.

Know The Signs

Many medical emergencies are obvious, but this isn’t always the case. There are some signs indicative of a medical emergency that are less obvious and are therefore more likely to be overlooked. Things like heavy bleeding are generally obvious, but broken bones and features aren’t always visible.

Some of the more commonly overlooked signs of a medical emergency include sudden changes of mental status, feelings of impending doom, sudden and severe pain, and sudden feelings of pressure internally.

Whenever you spot any of the tell-tale signs of a medical emergency, you should evaluate the situation. Start by asking the patient about their symptoms. If you are concerned, seek medical help immediately.

Taking the time to go through emergency procedures with your family will ensure that if anyone in your household suffers a medical emergency then they will have the best chance possible of recovery. Reacting promptly to medical emergencies is key, but if no one knows what to do then you risk reacting in the wrong way. The tips above are a great starting point for any family.