What are the aspects of the relationship between poisoning and accidental first aid

To put it bluntly, poisoning is one of the most common treatment scenarios for accidental first aid. The two are in a nested and symbiotic relationship, with general first aid principles as the underlying support, and exclusive treatment logic that needs to be adapted separately. There is currently a lot of discussion in the industry on whether the two should be set up independently or integrated.

I have been working as a field worker at an urban first aid station for three years, and poisoning accounts for nearly 20% of the accidental police cases I have received. From accidental ingestion of poisonous mushrooms and nitrites, to inhalation of industrial volatile gases, and children's accidental ingestion of household cleaners, I have encountered all kinds of situations. Regardless of the special cause of poisoning injuries, the core treatment logic is actually the same as that of all accidental first aid: remove the source of the injury as soon as possible, such as accidentally inhaling toxic gases and move the person to a ventilated and open area. If the skin is stained with corrosive poisons, take off contaminated clothing and shower, stop the damage first, and then perform subsequent treatment. This is exactly the same as the logic of moving the injured out of the dangerous area at the scene of a car accident to avoid secondary injuries.

However, many colleagues on the emergency frontline believe that poisoning first aid should be separated from general accident first aid to build a special system. After all, it is far from the priority of dealing with trauma accidents. Last month, we received an alert about a person who committed suicide by drinking organophosphorus pesticides. The person was still conscious when he was delivered. If we had followed the normal trauma procedures to first check for fractures and monitor physical signs, and the golden half hour of gastric lavage and vomiting would have been delayed, the patient would probably not have been saved. However, most teachers who provide grassroots first aid training do not agree with this view. First aid volunteers in rural areas and communities have limited knowledge points, and if they are broken down too finely, it will easily lead to confusion. It is better to embed the core points of poisoning identification into the general accident first aid process. For example, when multiple people are vomiting or fainting at the same time, it is more practical to first identify poisoning and then consider other causes.

To be honest, I personally feel that emergency first aid is like the ambulance we drive every day. The carriage is fully equipped with bandages, defibrillators, and hemostasis kits. First aid for poisoning is the exclusive detoxification box locked behind the passenger seat. It is usually placed in a unified dispatching system with other tools. If you encounter the corresponding situation, you must first know when to open the box, and you must also know how to use the things inside. It doesn’t matter if any end is missing. Last year, a primary school in our area organized a spring outing. Several children picked wild fruits from the mountains and ate them. Half an hour later, they began to vomit one after another. The teacher who led the team had previously participated in a community first aid class. He did not give antiemetics to the children at the first time. Instead, he assisted in inducing vomiting. When he called 120, he specifically reported suspected food poisoning. When we arrived, we directly followed the poisoning procedures and the children were discharged from the hospital the same day without any sequelae.

Now in our monthly case review meeting, the latest poisoning treatment guidelines will be mixed into accidental first aid cases. Originally, the two types of things cannot be separated. There is no need to forcefully draw a boundary or forcefully combine them. Being able to help the injured as soon as possible is the most practical.