First Aider Badge. Page 1. The Wolf Cub Books No. 4. FIRST AIDER BADGE. By NUSHKA. Illustrations by Rikk. Published by. THE BOY SCOUTS ASSOCIATION.
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First Aider Badge Page 1 The Wolf Cub Books No. 4 FIRST AIDER BADGE By NUSHKA Illustrations by Rikk Published by THE BOY SCOUTS ASSOCIATION 25 BUCKINGHAM PALACE ROAD LONDON, S. W.1 Published 1952 Revised Edition 1958 Revised Edition 1960 Printed by Fletcher & Son Ltd, Norwich
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First Aider Badge Page 2 Editor s Note: The reader is reminded that these texts have been written a long time ago. Consequently, they may use some terms or express sentiments which were current at the time, regardless of wha t we may think of them at the beginning of the 21 st century. For reasons of historical accuracy they have been preserved in their original form. If you find them offensive, we ask you to please delete this file from your system. This and other traditional Scouting texts may be downloaded from The Dump. FIRST AIDER BADGE 1. Show that he knows the meaning of “First Aid” and the need for summoning adult help. 2. Show how to dress minor cuts and grazes and know the importance of cleanliness in treatment. 3. Demons trate simple roller bandaging of a hand and a knee, and the large arm sling. 4. Know the common causes of burns and scalds in the home and their prevention; how to put out burning c lothing; the simple treatment of burns and scalds. 5. Know the symptoms of and how to treat shock resulting from burns or accidents. Downloaded from: http://www.thedump.scoutscan.com/
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First Aider Badge Page 3 CHAPTER ONE TREATMENT OF CUTS AND GRAZES As a First Star Cub, you will have learnt how to look after yourself, and why it is important to keep your body clean, both inside and out. If you have alr eady earned your Second Star, you know something about germs too, and the danger of dirt in a wound. So the first part of First Aider Badge is not really at all difficult, and only needs plenty of practice to make sure that you can clean a cut or graze tho roughly and gently, and put on a bandage properly. Well, there are all your friends’ legs and arms on which you can, I feel sure, practise from time to time, as well as your own! I hope you will do this, because a First Aider who knows what to do but has n ever done it, is only half as good as one who has taken the trouble to try for himself, and of course the more you know about having your own cuts and scratches treated, either by yourself or someone else, the more careful you are sure to be not to hurt a patient any more than you can possibly help. Some people will make much more fuss than others when they are hurt, but a First Aider gets used to this, and just does his best to find out what really is the matter, and tries very hard to keep his patient cal m while he is attending to the injury. You cannot keep anyone calm, however, unless you are calm yourself, and the best way to be sure of this is to be prepared by knowing a few simple things. In your own house – Know where the bandages, scissors, and ant iseptics are kept – also safety pins, lint, and clean rags. Out of doors – Always carry a clean handkerchief, and, if you can remember, one or two safety pins. Know where a doctor lives in your district, and try to notice, when you are out and about, where public phone boxes are placed. Remember that you can always go to the nearest house and ask for help. A young girl was out to tea one day when her aunt cut her finger very deeply, while preparing the bread and butter. She stood looking at it and began to go very white. There were no other grown – ups present, but the small boy in the house knew where his mother kept her bandages, and the girl was a Guide. She was able to stop her aunt from fainting, stop the bleeding, and apply the right bandage. But she cou ld not have managed so easily if that small boy had not known where the first – aid things were! If anybody cuts his hand when you are about, there are two things to think about. 1. If the cut is bleeding badly, that is, if the blood is pouring out in spurts , you must try at once to stop the bleeding. Make him sit down and tell him to hold his hand well up, towards his head, while you get a clean handkerchief or a clean piece of rag (we call this a dressing). Place this on the cut and bind it firmly with anot her handkerchief, tying it with a reef knot of course. 2. Usually the blood will not be spurting out, but just flowing gently, and then you will have more time to prepare a dressing and also to clean the cut. Whenever the skin is cut, or even scratched, an opening is made into the body, and dirt gets taken in. Any dirt in a cut is dangerous, because it contains GERMS. These germs are smaller than the eye can see, and yet, if left in a wound, they can poison the blood so that the cut festers and becomes real ly serious.
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First Aider Badge Page 4 Sometimes it may mean the loss of a finger or a hand – so you see why you must be careful. Therefore you must always clean the smallest cut with very great care, getting rid of the germs by washing them out with warm water, or cold if there is no thing better. Try and remember to wash your own hands before touching the wound. If you are at home I hope you will know where Mother keeps the Dettol or T. C . P . These are called “antiseptics”, meaning poison (or germ) killers. You put a few drops in the wa ter that you use for washing out the wound. Then you take a clean bit of rag or small piece of cotton wool and gently wipe out any dirt that you can see. Wipe away from the cut and not over it. Then put the cleanest thing you can find over the cut – a pad of clean rag, or if you have not got this, the inside of a clean folded handkerchief, or even the inside of an envelope. Having covered the cut with something of this kind, you should add padding – more handkerchiefs or rag, and bind the whole thing up ver y firmly to stop the bleeding. If all your friends carry clean handkerchiefs when you go outdoors for games, trails or tests, then, should one of you have a fall, the rest of you will be able to provide enough bandage! If you are in uniform you will of cou rse have your scarf for an outside bandage or sling, but an ordinary woollen scarf, or even a tie, can come in handy. A badly bleeding hand or leg should be kept raised after being bandaged, and you must remember that your help is only First Aid; so take t he patient as soon as possible to a grown – up person who will attend to the cut more thoroughly.
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First Aider Badge Page 5 A graze may not seem as bad as a cut because there is no alarming blood about, but probably much more skin has been scraped away from the surface, and it is usu ally covered with dirt and grit, and must be well cleaned. Once again let me remind you to wash your own hands before you begin to wash any grazed skin. Use plain soap if you have any, not scented. Then gently wash out the dirt from the graze, taking care never to rub the skin. Just dab it. Your bowl of water should have some antiseptic in it, just the same as for cleaning cuts, and when all the dirt and grit is removed, cover the graze with a clean piece of rag, or lint (using the smooth side against the w ound). Now bandage it firmly, but not too tightly or the graze will stick to the dressing, and it will be agony to pull it off later. Always use a reef knot because it will hold firm, and yet is easiest to undo. Don’t forget to tidy up afterwards. Rinse ou t the bowl you have used, and destroy all the bits of rag or cotton wool with which you bathed the wound. Never leave anything like this lying about. Then wash your hands once more. This will show that you really have got the right idea. CHAPTER TWO PUTTI NG ON A BANDAGE WE talked in the first chapter about bandaging cuts and grazes after cleaning them and putting on a dressing, but nothing was said about how this should be done. I expect you will already have practised a bit with pieces of roller bandage, but of course a First Aider more often than not has to use whatever he can find, unless someone happens to be carrying a first – aid outfit when an accident takes place. Old handkerchiefs and clean pieces of old linen, or towels, can easily be torn into str ips and used as bandages, and it is a good idea to have a special place in your house for keeping some of these. Slings are best made from triangular – shaped pieces, and that is one of the reasons why Scouts and Cubs wear scarves which will fold into this s hape. Roller bandages are not easy to use. If you are at all flustered they are apt to drop out of your fingers and tie themselves in loops round your body. Then you have to roll them up again while the poor suffering patient waits in great discomfort.
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First Aider Badge Page 6 T he Wolf Cut First Aider is expected to use roller bandages for fixing dressing on a finger, the hand, or the knee. When a wound has been cleaned it must always have a dressing over it to stop bleeding and to keep germs away. A clean piece of lint is the mo st usual dressing, and the smooth side should be placed over the wound. Some cotton wool or a padding of soft rag should be put on next, and this will then have to be held firmly in place. To be quite sure that you do this properly, here are some hints Make your patient sit down, and if his hand or finger needs bandaging support his elbow on something before you start. Stand facing him – it is much easier this way. See that the bandage is tightly and evenly rolled before you use it. Apply the outer si de of the bandage, and see that each layer overlaps the one underneath sufficiently to hold firm. Bandage from below upwards and from within outwards. The bandage should be firm without feeling too tight. You can only learn by practice how to put one o n just firmly enough to be comfortable. Should the hand or finger begin to look blue the bandage must be loosened at once. When you are practising, use a piece of rag or lint to act as a dressing. (These are the bits that tease you by slipping about, and that is the very reason they need a bandage to keep them in place.)
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First Aider Badge Page 8 the ends will then be over the good shoulder. Take hold of the other end and bring it up over the bad shoulder, round the neck, and tie it in a reef knot at the side of the neck. Never tie your knot at the back of the neck – it is so uncomfortable for the patient. Now fold the point of th e bandage over the elbow and pin it neatly. See that the arm is in a comfortable position, with the hand a little bit higher than the elbow. I hope you will practise these different ways of bandaging until you feel perfectly sure of them, and let your fri ends tie you up too, because it is just as well to know what it feels like to be “the patient”. Remember when you are only practising, and there is nothing really wrong, to make the “patient” sit down while being attended to. Then you will not forget this when you come across someone who is really in pain, and should not be kept standing about. A real accident, even if it is only a little one, gives the body a shock, so that it needs rest and care for a little while. We will talk more about thi s later on. CHAPTER THREE TREATMENT FOR SHOCK AFTER BURNS OR ACCIDENTS HAVE you ever fallen off your bicycle, or out of a tree, or perhaps off a pair of steps? I should think most certainly you have done one of these uncomfortable things, or something like it, more than once. Perhaps you were lucky and only grazed a knee or bumped yourself a bit, but I expect you remember how shaky it made you feel for some little while afterwards. I was knocked down by a cyclist once. Neither of us was hurt, only surprised. But hou rs later I found that I could not control my pen when trying to write a letter. My hand was all jerky. Any fall is a shock to the body, and if you can remember your own feelings, it will help you to understand, when you may have to give First Aid at any t ime, that however slight the injury, a person should be kept quiet and comfortable afterwards – just to make sure he or she feels all right before going home. If anyone has had a bang on the head, it is best to walk home with them, and not send them off by t hemselves. If an injury is a more serious one, like a burn, or a bad cut that has bled rather heavily, the patient will most likely show definite signs of feeling the shock. The face becomes very pale, the skin is cold and clammy, and perhaps the patient feels sick. Sometimes people feel so queer that they cannot stand up. They become faint and giddy. A First Aider must be prepared for this, and not let it frighten him. All he has to do is to remember these three important things: – 1. Make the patient s it; if he feels faint he should lie quite flat. 2. Keep him warm. 3. Give him a drink of water, or better still a cup of warm, sweet tea.
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First Aider Badge Page 9 Some people feel sick and giddy at the sight of blood. They cannot help this, and it is best to take them away from the scene of an accident and keep them calm, making them sit down and putting something warm round them. Be sure to put something warm underneath them, if they have to lie on the ground. But if you have learnt even a little simple first aid, it will help you to keep your head when something unexpected happens to you or anybody else, and your calmness will certainly make a great difference. Think of it – just by keeping calm and clear – headed, you might even save someone’s life. It’s worth it, isn’t it?
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First Aider Badge Page 10 We had an accident at our Pack Meeting one night. A new young Cub fell out of th e window. It was only a ground – floor window, but he gave his head a nasty blow, and was very frightened. While I was bathing the sore spot, all the Pack, anxious to help, made him a bed out of their coats and caps. They were very keen for him to try it, but I think it made him feel he was going to die, because he took fright and cried more than ever! I noticed that his teeth were chattering, although it was quite a warm day. Tha t is one of the signs of shock, and that is why you want to find something warm with which to cover your patient as soon as you can. But do it quietly, or he may take fright like my poor Cub, and that makes matters worse. When someone has had a bad fall, and perhaps cannot even get up for a few moments, he may feel all choked, and unable to breathe comfortably. And it does not help him at all if lots of anxious (or curious) people crowd in upon him to see what’s wrong. His collar should be loosened to hel p him to breathe, and his belt too, if it is at all tight, and no body except the one chosen to help should be allowed near. He should be kept quiet and given as much air as possible. He might like a drink of water, but never try to make a patient drink un less you are sure he can take it himself. If he has had a blow on the head, or feels faint from shock, you might choke him by trying to give him water before he can swallow properly. A cup of tea is always a comfort to a person suffering from shock, and y ou should try to give it to him with sugar in it, if possible, even if he doesn’t like it sweet. (Though most of us do, I think!) The sugar is warming for him, and he needs that warmth at a time like this, as well as a blanket to cover him. Naturally you will not always have these useful things handy when you meet with an accident, but I hope you will remember to go, or send someone, to the nearest house or shop, and tell them the trouble, and ask for their help.
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First Aider Badge Page 11 CHAPTER FOUR TREATMENT FOR BURNS AND SCALD S WHAT kinds of accidents happen that cause burns and scalds? You often hear of kettles being knocked over and people’s legs getting scalded. Then sometimes Baby, being inquisitive, touches Mother’s hot iron, or puts her hand on the top of the stove. Or p oor Mother, hurrying to have the meal ready for everyone, burns her hand on a baking tin. There are people too, who like a really nice hot water bottle, and so they fill theirs with boiling water. This is always dangerous, because if the bottle bursts when they are in bed they may be badly scalded. Such an accident as this can be avoided by never using boiling water in a hot water bottle. Nor should boiling water be poured straight into a glass jar, because the heat will crack the glass and the water may we ll come shooting out over your feet. It is fun to light a bonfire, but here care should be taken that it does not get out of control. When you are a Scout you will learn more about lighting fires in the open, but if you remember not to put too much on you r fire, and never to throw any oil on it, you are less likely to get into trouble this way. Guy Fawkes Night is an exciting time isn’t it? Out come all those carefully collected fireworks, and everyone is playing with fire. The flames look fine in the dark – but how busy the fire – engine always is, too! Often boys get burnt through holding their fireworks so that the sparks drop on their feet, and also because they go too near the one that doesn’t “go off” and prod it to see what is the matter! You should neve r wave a firework near
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