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Stay safe at parties

By Brad Smith
July 22, 2009 at 1:47 pm

Ah, the glorious British summer is upon us. Well, occasionally, at least.

What do you like to do in the summertime? Personally, I enjoy going to music festivals (Glastonbury being a permenant fixture), doing lots of walking, having as many barbeques as I can, and partying in general.

But parties often bring accidents. And accidents often require first aid.

You might be at an egg and spoon race, speeding down the garden to beat your neighbour, family member or long-time foe. But then you trip – and the egg’s shell isn’t the only thing you injure. Sprained ankles are pretty common, but you can help. Find out how to treat sprains and strains.

Barbeques are brilliant. A great chance to eat, drink and be merry with friends and family. Unfortunately, sometimes accidents can occur. I suspect burns are a common occurance at barbeques – be prepared by finding out how you treat a burn.

And what do all great barbeques need? Vegetables. Lots of vegetables. Picture the scene – you’re in the kitchen, barbeque smouldering away and being looked after nicely. You’re tasked with cutting the veg. But you’re so excited at the thought of the contents of the barbeque grill being ready, you slip with your knife and cut your finger. No problem – just make sure you’ve had a read up on how to treat bleeding, first.

So the chef has earned their food by racing up and down the garden, they’ve grilled it to perfection and they’ve had the veggies they want. Time to sit back and relax. Perhaps partake in a few alcholic drinks.

But the chef’s drunk too much.

There’s a strong smell of alcohol, chef’s got loads of empty bottles around him, he’s got impaired consciousness and a flushed, moist face. He might start to have deep, noisy breathing and a full bounding pulse. He may even be unconscious.

You’d be right to suspect alcohol poisoning.

What should you do? Keep his airway open. Assess him for any other problems. Check to see if he is unconscious, and if so, put him in the recovery position. Monitor him until he recovers. If you’re in any doubt, phone 999/112 for help.

The signs and symptons of alcohol poisoning are commonly confused with those of head injuries, strokes, heart attacks or hypoglycaemia (diabeties), so you might want to read up on how to spot them, too.

So there you go – a few ideas for what can happen while you’re partying away, and how to be prepared. Have you had any accidents at parties you’d like to share? Go on, they can’t be that bad..

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Comments (18) »

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Tags: accidents, alcohol poisoning, barbeques, bleeding, First aid, parties, sprains and strains

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm and is filed under First aid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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