After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

A poisoned person may suddenly become very sick and need immediate first aid. When you help someone who has been poisoned or injured in a chemical accident, fire or explosion, or by carbon monoxide, you should be aware of the dangers, so that you can protect yourself and warn others.

The dangers to look out for

There may be a danger of poisoning:

• inside a room or building where there is a heater or cooker burning wood, oil or gas, where there is not enough fresh air;
• inside a garage where a car engine is running;
• inside an empty chemical storage tank;
• inside a grain store or silo;
• near a chemical fire or explosion, or a spill or leak of gases, solids or liquids, especially in a pit, trench or cellar;
• inside a burning building. Fires give off smoke and hot air, which may damage the lungs if breathed in, and poisonous gases, especially if chemicals or plastics are burning. The poisonous gases quickly build up in a closed space;
• from contact with skin or clothes of people who have been contaminated by very poisonous chemicals, such as cyanide or organo-phosphorus pesticides.

There may also be a danger of injury at the scene of a chemical accident. For example, there may be a danger from traffic if the accident happened on the road, or a danger from collapsing buildings at the scene of a fire or explosion.

What to do in an emergency

When there is an emergency:

• Keep calm.
• Make sure you are safe.
• Raise the alarm and call for help.
• Move the victims away from danger.
• Give first aid.

Keep calm

Try to calm yourself before you approach a victim or an incident. Most people are frightened if they are injured or suddenly taken ill. By remaining calm you will help to relieve their fear. Act quickly and quietly.

Make sure you are safe

Before you do anything else, make sure that you are safe. If there is danger, you must protect yourself. If you become another victim there may be no one to help you.

Quickly check that there is no danger from:

• poisonous gas, smoke or fumes,
• poisonous liquids,
• fire and collapsing buildings,
• traffic.

Check which way the wind is blowing and keep out of areas where smoke or fumes from leaks or spills might blow over you.

Raise the alarm and call for help

• If you are the first person on the scene, shout to others in the area to warn them of any danger and to call for help.
• If there is more than one victim always shout for help before you do anything else.
• If there is a nurse, doctor, health worker or first aider living or working nearby, send someone to get help.

Move the victim away from danger, if it is safe for you to do so

If someone is unconscious in a room or building that might be full of poisonous gas:

Open the door and open or break the windows from the outside, to let in fresh air. Wait until the room is full of clean air before you go in.
• Do not switch on an electric light and do not let anyone go into the room with a lighted cigarette or naked flame. These may cause an explosion.

If someone is trapped inside a burning building:

Do not go in unless you are wearing proper breathing equipment that you have been trained to use. If you go into a burning building with nothing to protect you from breathing poisonous gas and smoke, you may become unconscious and not be able to get out. A wet rag over the mouth and nose will not protect you.

If someone is unconscious inside an empty storage tank:

• Use an air compressor to blow fresh air into the tank. Wait until the tank is full of clean air before you go in.
If the storage tank cannot be cleared with a compressor, do not, go in unless you are wearing proper breathing equipment that you have been trained to use. If you go into an empty storage tank with nothing to protect you from breathing poisonous gas, you may become unconscious and not be able to get out.

Protect yourself from being poisoned by contact with the victim. Put on gloves before you touch people who have been poisoned with cyanide, crowd-control gases, or organophosphorus pesticides. Poison on their skin or clothes could poison you.

Give first aid before you move the victim, unless it is dangerous to stay there (see Chapter 5).

If there will be a delay in getting the victim to a doctor or to hospital, you may need to do more to help him or her (see Chapter 9).