Electrical accident | Domestic emergencies

Electrical accident

From time to time, especially with smaller children, accidents caused by contact with electricity occur. In spite of all safety measures at power sources and sockets, it can in principle always happen that a child comes into contact with electricity.Most of the time the children get scared, pull back the hand and start to cry or scream. First of all, the child should be calmed down and any injuries at the point of entry should be examined.

Immediately afterwards and some time later you should also feel the child’s pulse. In some cases, adults also experience cramps in connection with the contact with electricity. This keeps the patient in close contact with the power source and does not release it.

In this case, a second person should immediately unscrew the fuse and pull the patient away from the power source. In this case, an emergency doctor should be called as soon as possible, as this type of electrical accident can lead to dangerous cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. The danger of electrical accidents is therefore burns, sometimes of the most severe degree, up to cardiac arrest and death.

Falls

Falls are among the most common injuries in a domestic environment that constitute an emergency. Older people in particular are very vulnerable to falls. They are caused by carelessness or overestimation of one’s own abilities and occur mainly on stairs or ladders.

Often the affected persons cannot even name the reason for the fall. In some cases the affected persons lose their balance, slip or become unconscious. This is to be inquired during the examination in any case, since unconsciousness could be caused by a cramping seizure or a circulatory disorder.

The danger of falling is the uncontrolled falling onto angular, hard or pointed objects or surfaces. If unconsciousness has occurred, the patient is no longer able to restrain himself adequately or to protect important parts of the body, such as the head. In this case, hard, uncontrolled impact occurs, sometimes with very serious injuries.

Other falls can be mildly accompanied by sprains, ligament stretching or bone fractures. One of the most dreaded falls is the fall of old people with a resulting fracture of the femoral neck, as complications can often occur during hospital treatment. After falls of unclear cause, a doctor should always be consulted or an emergency doctor called.

The situation is difficult for people living alone who have suffered a fracture or injury as a result of a fall. They should try to reach a telephone to alert the emergency doctor. If this is not possible, they should try to call the neighbors by calling loudly.

It makes sense to take part in one of the numerous monitoring systems at an older age, where you can immediately call for help by pressing a button. The treatment of the accident victims depends on the type of fall, the condition of the patient and the injuries. If the head is involved, computer tomography (CT) will probably be performed to rule out bleeding in the brain.

If bones are mainly involved, an x-ray of the corresponding area will be sufficient. Shortened and outwardly twisted thighs always indicate a femoral neck fracture that requires surgical treatment. If the patient cannot remember the cause of the accident, a circulatory disorder of the carotid arteries (with ultrasound) or a cardiac arrhythmia (with ECG) should be sought. In very many cases, unconsciousness and the resulting fall is caused by a suddenly occurring cardiac arrhythmia.