First aid for fractures.

Many winter ended up in a rather unpleasant situation, when they fell and broke their arm or leg. This fate in the ice is difficult to avoid as an adult, and a child. In summer, this also often happens, especially in children who fall from trees or horizontal bars and, as a result, find themselves in a cast. Perhaps that's why the phrase from the famous movie "The Diamond Arm" became a popular aphorism. And if an accident occurred before your eyes? What to do in this situation? How to relieve a person of suffering? Today in this article we will consider what is the first medical aid for fractures

How to recognize a fracture? To determine what a fracture in the victim, you must always consult a trauma doctor and take an X-ray. And in order to provide first aid, it is advisable to first make sure that the victim has a fracture. So, what is usually called a fracture in medical literature? The breach of the integrity of bone tissue, which arises from the fact that the bone is bent when it is struck, dropped or squeezed under the influence of other bodies or mechanisms, is called a fracture. That is, another body or mechanism can be anything, for example, an iron beam or slab.

A fracture can be complete or partial, depending on how much the integrity of the bone is broken. If it is broken down entirely, down to the splinters, such a fracture is called complete. If the damage to the bone is partial, then a crack appears - then the fracture is called partial. But you still can not ascertain the degree of bone fracture without the involvement of a traumatologist and a radiologist. You can only determine by eye what kind of fracture, open or closed, the victim.

And when closed, and with an open fracture, a person experiences acute pain. The place of fracture swells, sometimes with the closed complete (fractured) fracture you can hear the "crunching" of bone fragments with free movement of the limb. Once you have determined that the victim is this type of injury, he must be given the first medical help for fractures.

If the fracture is closed, the skin of the injured person is not damaged. Conversely, if the fracture is open, a person has a wound on the skin, from which "bones" or bone fragments can "stick" out. In addition, bleeding may open, which, in the end, is often a threat to life. If the wound is not disinfected in time, an infection can enter it and cause a local inflammatory process in the soft tissues.

First aid for fractures. Rules for its provision

The first help in breaking the ribs is to help the patient to breathe easier and give his body the right position for a while until the ambulance arrived. Do not apply a pressure bandage! If you provide first aid to a person with an open fracture, you must provide him with peace. It is desirable to put the person injured on an even surface. In this case, he can lie without tension. Remember that it is strictly forbidden to remove bone fragments from the wound and insert protruding bones into the wound, as this can lead to even more trauma to the injured and cause painful shock. Then you must apply a sterile gauze or cloth bandage to the wound. In general, use what is at your fingertips. For this case, a clean towel and a clean handkerchief will do.

If the victim has severe bleeding, he should try to stop. To do this, apply a tight bandage. If the bleeding is arterial (the blood is scarlet and bright, it pours with jerks, as it were pulsing), a bandage (a tourniquet, a twisted handkerchief or belt) is placed above the wound in order to squeeze the artery. For more than 1.5 hours, you can not hold the tourniquet in order not to cause tissue necrosis. If the bleeding is venous (blood flows without pulsation), the tourniquet is placed below the wound.

First aid for fractures implies maximum immobility of the place of injury. For this, the patient is given a tire (a hard object for fixing the fracture). As a tire you can use wooden boards.

First aid with a closed fracture is practically the same as first aid with an open fracture, except for the application of a tourniquet. In addition, it is necessary to make the injury site as stationary as possible and, trying not to cause pain to the injured person, very carefully apply the tire.