First Aid

The only thing worse than being bitten by a snake is not knowing what to do. This how-to tells you if you are in danger of dieing. There are some seriously good tips on what to do if bitten by a snake.

Choking is scary in any situation, but it's exponentially worse when there's no one around to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Even more so when there aren't any chairs or countertops anywhere.

PICC stands for a peripherally inserted central catheter, and is usually inserted somewhere in your patient's uppper arm, giving access to the larger veins in the chest region. PICC lines are often desirable because they are the least risky way of giving central access to the veins near the heart, especially when your patient will need to have one for an extended period of time. This tutorial shows you everything you'll need to know about how to properly and safely insert a PICC line into your...

Nitrile exam gloves are the latest in disposable medical glove technology. They withstand stress well and won't trigger latex allergies, making them a great choice for first aid work. Watch this video to learn how to remove them properly, ensuring that your skin is not contaminated by whatever you were trying to keep off them with the gloves.

We all make the same mistake at some point. Walking around, minding your own business and then BAM you crush your toe right into a step, a wall, a small raise in the ground. Your toe is broken, you're shouting like a sailor, and your toe now looks like a swollen grape. Don't worry, you don't have to go to the hospital. Instead, check out this great video where you learn how to wrap your broken toe to help it heal.

In this medical-minded video tutorial from the folks at ICYou, we learn about the newest recommendation for administering CPR (or cardiopulmonary resuscitation). For all of the details, and to get started learning more about how to give CPR yourself, take a look.

In this tutorial, we learn how to draw blood from an arterial line. First, you will need a catheter, tubing, regular iv tubing, 10 cc syringe, transducer, fluid bag, and iv saline bag. First, waste a couple ml's of blood by turning the stock cock off to the system and draw back a couple liters of blood. After this, turn the stock cock off the syringe and take out the syringe, then add a new one. Now, take your sample of blood and draw out 5 ml of new blood. Take out the syringe, then cap it and...

In this tutorial, we learn how to manage a fever in children. When your child has a fever, this means their body is fighting an infection. The fever will vary depending on what it is, but it will usually peak at 106 degrees. Don't bring the fever down with Tylenol, because it could make the cold last for a longer amount of time. This can be a greater threat to health than the illness was in the first place. If the child starts to get a higher fever, this is a good sign that the body is killing...

In this first aid video, learn the simple procedure of caring for burns and scalds, in sign language. It's specifically geared to helping the deaf and hearing impaired.

Deaf people are just like everyone else, and they have a responsibility to save lives just like the rest of us. Those with hearing impairments might not be able to benefit from most online first aid training, but this video is signed to give those with hearing problems the info they need to help out.

Everyone should know basic first aid, and the hearing impaired are no different. Deaf people can save a life just like any other, so this video is designed specifically for the hearing impaired, in sign language.

Everyone should know how to perform basic first aid, especially for choking victims. This video will help deaf people and those with hearing impairment learn how to deal with choking, using sign language. Choking is serious life-threatening problem that need immediate attention. It could result in such problems as hypoxia or even death.

Everyone should be able to perform basic first aid, even those with hearing impairment. Deaf individuals are just as likely to save a life as anyone else, but they need to know how, just like everyone else. This video is signed to help those with hearing problems learn about strains and sprains treatments. Although strains and sprains are not a serious injury, they are still very painful for the sufferer, and the only way to make sure they heal properly is to make sure they get immediate...

Dr. Chris Steele guides us through how to find the 5 Cs of a sick child. When you have a child who is running a fever, it's important to remember not to heat up your home and wrap them in a ton of blankets. This is the worst thing you can do because you're increasing the warmth around them, which is going to increase their brain and body temperature. If your child has a fever, remember to cool them. Cool their room, cool a wash cloth to place on them, cool drinks, cool ice cream, and cool...

In this tutorial, we learn tips from roadies. If you experience a nosebleed and don't know how to handle it, there is a very simple way to cure it. First, take a long string and tie it around the middle of your hand a few times until it's tight. Then, make a fist with your hand and squeeze for two minutes. By the time the two minutes is up, your nosebleed should have subsided. Another tip, is for when you have hiccups. First, take a pen and press it on the inside of the ear. After a few...

More CPR education (the super gratuitously sexy way). If you're hypnotized and you missed Lesson #1, now would be the time to check it out...

Disposable, sterile gloves are one of the most important part of hospital safety, making sure that the hands that touch the patients are not going to make them sicker. However, putting on sterile gloves incorrectly can cause the germs from your hands to get on the gloves, ruining their sterility. This quick video details how to put sterile gloves on properly to maximize patient safety.

There are a lot of different types of sutures out there, as any of your doctors, nurses, and medical students know, and performing them properly is a vital part of your job. This video details how to perform a figure of eight suture on a surgical patient. It is definitely made for the professional or student, so please, do not try this at home!

In the wide world of suturing techniques, the simple interrupted suture is perhaps the simplest and most common. This video details and demonstrates how to perform such a suture. This will be a very handy video for anyone new to the field of medicine looking to improve their surgical skills.

There are almost as many types of sutures as there are types of wounds that a human can sustain. This video instructs the viewer in performing one popular type of suture: the vertical mattress stitch. This type of stitch is relatively simple and strong, and thus a good choice for many types of wounds.

The purse string stitch is one of the more specialized stitches used during surgery: the purse string suture. This suture is used to seal an opening in a hollow organ in the body, like when a feeding tube is being inserted. It is a challenging maneuver, and mostly useful in internal medicine rather than external, but knowing it is essential to several types of surgery.

When a wound is particularly messy or has been sutured improperly, a dog ear can form. A dog ear is a flap of skin that does not fit cleanly into the suturing of the rest of the wound. This video features a doctor explaining how to suture a dog ear properly. One handy tip: if you lengthen the laceration away from the dog ear, the skin will hang looser and be easier to suture. Counterintuitive, but effective.

Performing sutures properly is one of the most important and basic parts of being a successful doctor, especially in a hospital environment. This two-part video features an overview of proper suture technique, from how to hold the needle to some common sense advice for avoiding mistakes.

The vertical mattress suture is one of the most common stitches used in Western medicine. this video features a demonstration of a vertical mattress suture on a big legs. This video will make a handy reference for any medical, veterinary, or nursing student looking to improve their suturing techniques.

A common problem with human patient simulators is that they are very easy to break. In this tutorial, learn how to perform simulated open heart surgery on a HPS without breaking any of the mechanisms inside his chest. This video will demonstrate how to modifiy a human patient simulator (HPS) for open heart surgery/thoracotomy proceudres in the simulation center. Although the video demonstrates the method on a Laerdal Sim Man, the technique can be appled to other simulators.

The opthalmoscope is one of most basic tools of the modern opthamologist, and is essential to the diagnosis of the eyes. This five-part video, performed by a medical student, will walk you through the necessary steps in performing fundoscopy or opthamalscopy on a patient, covering talking to the patient, an overview of the equipment, and all of the rest of the information that you will need.

In a wilderness survival situation, someone in your group suffering a major laceration is a catastrophe. Achieving sterility and suturing the wound closed will both be very difficult to achieve. This four-part video series features a detailed explanation and demonstration of how to use a basic first aid kit to suture a wound closed in an austere situation, such as out in the wilderness. Suturing a wound closed in an austere setting is a last resort, but knowing how to do it could keep you or...

Just as there are many different ways to cut your skin, there are many ways to suture it back together again. This medical demonstrating videos features the subcutaneous stitch, one popular type of suture used by doctors and surgeons everywhere, especially on deep wounds.

If you are a veterinary student and need to learn how to do hand ties, these videos will help you. These educational videos were created by Lara Rasmussen, DVM and Eva Jaeger, RVT in 2003 and in this clip learn how to perform left handed two hand suture ties on most animals. Practice makes perfect and soon you will be ready to save the day.

Runners, gymnasts, and others who are prone to injury: Listen up! In this video, learn how to properly tape up an ankle spran in case of injury. Brush up on your first aid skills with help from this free tutorial.

Lauren Dickerson and Ed Barnett demonstrates how to properly use a cane. Using a cane is appropriate when you have impaired mobility of any kind such as an injury caused by a knee or a hip. First, measure the cane. Hold the cane about four inches away from you and it should come to hip height. When the cane is the right length, your arm should come at a 30 degree angle. Hold the cane on the stronger side of your body. When you walk, bring the cane and your weaker leg out together. Then bring...

In this video, we learn how to treat a bee sting with Dr. Karen Sheehan. Wasps can sting you over and over, so make sure if you or your child is around one, you get away as quickly as possibly. A honeybee will only sting once but it will keep its stinger inside of your body, make sure you remove the as soon as possible. Another thing to do to make your child more comfortable is to give them Benadryl, and give them the appropriate dose. Also putting ice on the site for 20 minutes every hour will...

luvk9ines gives a tutorial on how to tie a two-handed suture tie for veterinary purposes. To begin the two-hand suture tie, knot the two ties together and continue to knot but you will alternate the direction of each knot. One knot/tie will be interlinked from the top and the next knot will be interlinked from the bottom. In other words, pretend that you are making a knot on a tie and each time you make the knot, the tie on the left will be going in the bottom direction. The next knot, the...

This video shows the method to suture arterial lines using a curved needle. We will use the new arterial line kit for our demonstration. We will use a curved needle as it is safer than the straight needle. Hold the suture with the hamostat at about sixty percent from the tip of the needle. Do the turn the key method to bring the needle out from the other side. Unclamp it and re-clamp it at the tip of the needle. Continue the turn the key method. Pull the suture up and through. Cut the suture...

This video illustrate us how to preform a simple interrupted suture in surgery. Here are the following steps:

This video illustrate us how to suture using a needle driver clamp. Here are the following steps:

If you want to perform an interrupted and a subcuticular suture you should first make a bite through the skin. In order to make a bite through the skin you should put the needle point perpendicular to the surface, turn your wrist and make sure it arrives at an even point from the entry point. Grasp the needle as it comes from the tissue. Make sure you always keep the needle in view. Then ti e the suture with an instrument tie and form the knot on the side of the wound so it does not effect the...

Don't let the fear of those red, itchy mosquito bites keep you from enjoying the outdoors this summer. Even if your mosquito repellant doesn't work and you end up getting bitten there are some easy household items that will alleviate any discomfort.

Good Housekeeping Magazine has teamed with the American Heart Association to bring this life-saving video to you. In the event of a sudden cardiac arrest, call 911 and begin chest compressions immediately. Place your hands on the center of the chest and push hard and fast until help arrives. Compressions help deliver oxygenated blood to the brain and heart. This hands only approach to delivering CPR can greatly alleviate fear, and can double or quadruple a victim's chance of survival.