Hot First Aid How-Tos

How To: Use a curved needle for suturing arterial lines

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 ...

How To: Immobilize an ankle

Learn how to immobilize an ankle. The ankle is a complex joint, so when an injury occurs, and you can't get help right away, the first thing to do is keep it from moving – you'll prevent any more damage to the surrounding nerves and tissue.

How To: Treat a bullet wound at home

If you've just been shot but can't be bothered with a trip to the hospital you may want to know how to remove a bullet yourself. Learn how to remove the bullet as well as clean and cauterize, and bandage the wound.

How To: Insert a proper PICC line into your patient

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 you...

How To: Treat minor cooking burns at home

It's impossible to learn how to cook without getting burned a few times. First, learn how to avoid getting burned (like using potholders and taking care around hot stoves). If you accidentally get burned, here is how you can treat the minor burns with water and first aid supplies.

How To: Remove nitrile exam gloves properly and safely

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.

How To: Wrap up your broken toe at home

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.

How To: Draw blood from an arterial line

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 a...

How To: Stop bleeding with pressure and gauze

In this tutorial, we learn how to stop bleeding with pressure and gauze. If someone around you gets hurt and is bleeding, the very first thing you will want to do is put pressure on the area that is bleeding. If you don't have gauze, use a shirt or a towel. Do not touch the blood directly, as this can cause disease and other complications. Push down on the area firmly with your entire hand and take the victim to a hospital to get checked out, if the wound is large enough. If it's a smaller cu...

How To: Manage a fever in children with Dr. Bill Gray

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 killin...

How To: Use the recovery position [signed] (British Red Cross)

Even those with hearing impairments need to know basic first aid procedures, because everyone, including deaf people, can save a life one day. People may collapse unexpectedly for a number of reasons, and people who faint periodically, or those who suffer frequent seizures or from epilepsy need help from others, so it's important that everyone know the proper first aid procedure for saving a collapsed victim casualty.

How To: Treat a choking person [signed] (British Red Cross)

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.

How To: Treat strains and sprains [signed] (British Red Cross)

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 atte...

How To: Stop shoulder, neck and back tension from computer use

In this video, a doctor gives you great information on how to relieve shoulder, neck, and back pain from prolonged computer use. It's great advice for those of us who work at computers more than a few hours a day. The best way to improve tension is to fix your posture first, and make sure the screen is not too close to your eyes. Stop shoulder, neck and back tension from computer use.

How To: Make Your Own Resusable, Lasting Ice Pack for 30 Cents

Check out this tutorial for advice on how to make a long-lasting, reusable ice pack that will not leak for cheap. These ice packs conform to any shape you need, stay cold for a long time, won't burn your skin and won't leak! To top it all off, they cost less than a dollar each! So, keep one of these in your freezer in case of emergency and you're good to go. Toss those pricey, leaky blue packs and opt for this homemade version.

How To: Recognize and treat the 5 C's of a fever in children

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 bed...

How To: Stop a nosebleed easily

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 secon...

How To: Wrap an injured ankle

The last thing you want to do with an injured ankle is to hurt it further by wrapping it up improperly. Fortunately, wrapping an ankle is easy once you know how. And this free video first aid tutorial will show you precisely what you'll need to do. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look!

How To: Put sterile gloves on properly

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.

How To: Suture a wound in a hospital setting

Suturing wounds is one of the most important parts of any doctor's job, and learning how to do so should be among the first priorities of any medical student. This three-part video covers all of the basics of suturing a wound in a hospital setting. It features information on infiltrating anesthetic, choosing how many sutures to use, and other techniques.

How To: Perform a figure 8 suture during surgery

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!

How To: Use a purse string suture during surgery

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.

How To: Suture the dog ear of a wound closed

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.

How To: Perform a horizontal mattress suture on a patient

The horizontal mattress suture allows the doctor or nurse performing them to minimize the tension being applied to a patient's wound by the stitch, which facilitates healing. This video features a doctor demonstrating how to perform such a suture on a pig's leg, teaching you one of the techniques that will help make you a more successful medical professional.

How To: Do open heart surgery on a patient simulator safely

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.

How To: Increase your burn awareness and treat burns properly

Did you know that over a million people a year suffer from the effect of burns and over 1/3 of them wind up in the emergency room? If you have a burn of any kind, check out this clip. Dr. Savant will teach you exactly how to deal with burns of all degrees, from slight surface burns to deeper, higher degree singes. So, check out this clip and prepare, just in case!

How To: Perform fundoscopy or opthalmoscopy on a patient

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.

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