General information
Especially in the field of industrial and occupational medicine, injuries caused by chemical substances, especially by acidic or alkaline liquids, occur frequently. The injury usually happens within a few seconds of the patient’s inattention, who suddenly gets a drop or even larger amounts of the liquid in his eye (eye burns).
Initial measures
They include the immediate rinsing of the eye with an eye water bottle. First-aid methods are required here first (burns of the eye). In most companies, there are such bottles.
Alternatively, the opened eye can be held under running water or rinsed with a hose. The patient will squeeze the affected eye reflexively. The eye must be open, if necessary this must be done by forcefully stopping the first aider.
Furthermore, care must be taken to ensure that the draining water does not run into the opposite eye. In addition, the first aider should take care that he/she is self-protected. The flushing should not take less than 15 minutes.
An ectropion procedure should also be performed (swinging the eyelid upwards) so that as many areas of the eye as possible come into contact with rinsing fluid. If available, anaesthetic eye drops should be administered after the irrigation, as it cannot be excluded that the patient suffers severe pain due to the burn. While a first-aider is treating the patient with irrigation, the eye clinic should be informed by another, if necessary, and an immediate admission should be made (burns of the eye).
