SEAL Survival Guide (80 page)

TREATMENT

1. Get the person warmed up with external means (fire) or personal means (cocooning the frostbitten areas). But unless absolutely necessary, do not make the person walk on frostbitten toes or feet.

2. Submerge the extremities in warm water (105 to 110 degrees—no hotter).

3. Try to use a heated, moist towel and gently apply to the skin until the red color returns.

4. If you have no water, then your warm breath can be used. Make a cup with your hands over the area and breathe into it. Also, you can place your hands under the armpits or on the stomach.

5. Do not place anything hot, such as heating pads, directly on the area.

6. Don’t add heat and then remove it from the frostbitten area, as this warming and then reexposure to cold air can worsen the damage.

7. Don’t rub at the frostbitten area, as the skin will blister and more damage will be caused.

8. When dealing with severe frostbite, the goal is a gradual rewarming process in 100-degree water over a period of twenty-five to forty minutes.

9. As the affected areas warm, there will be some severe burning sensations, change of skin color, and maybe blistering/swelling. Do not try to treat/burst the blisters. Severe frostbite will remain black in color.

10. Dress fingers and toes individually; use cotton balls or other spacers to keep digits from touching and give acetaminophen or ibuprofen, not aspirin, to reduce the pain.

TRENCH FOOT

It’s been said that one reason Napoleon had to retreat from his 1812 invasion of Russia was due to footwear—the ultimate wardrobe malfunction. His soldiers became immobilized by what later came to be called trench foot. Soldiers in World War I, World War II, and even Vietnam suffered from this condition. When boots are constricted, get wet, or become soaked with the wearer’s own perspiration, a fungal infection forms on the feet. The condition can appear in as few as eighteen hours. The foot will turn red, then blue, and itch like mad. The skin begins to actually smell and die. Trench foot leads to gangrene, and amputation is the only cure if it’s left unattended.

Treatment

The best way to prevent trench foot is to take off wet socks, air out footwear, and be attentive to your feet by examining them regularly.

CHOKING

Choking is one of the top causes of accidental death in America. Anything, though it’s usually food, can get stuck in the airway and cut off breathing. It happens so fast that trying to self-administer first aid is nearly impossible, though it can be done. When an airway is obstructed, the person cannot speak or call out for help. Without first aid, brain damage and death by asphyxiation are the end results of choking.

Treating a Choking Victim

1. Make sure the person is actually choking. By this I mean you must determine if it’s complete airway obstruction. If the person is able to speak or is making actual coughing sounds, then they have only a partial airway blockage. You want to monitor it, but allow them to try to cough up the item causing the problem.

2. If you are able to look into the mouth and see the obstruction, then manually remove the obstruction with your fingers for an immediate resolution.

3. If the obstruction remains, use the Heimlich maneuver.

a. Get behind the person and grab them at their stomach, just below the rib cage and above the navel.

b. Apply pressure by delivering inward and upward thrusts until the blockage is cleared.

If you are alone
and begin to choke, find a chair or hard surface and ram your stomach, below the rib cage, at the hard surface multiple
times until the blockage is clear. You have only moments of consciousness, so if you are alone and choking, act quickly but with purpose.

If the victim is unconscious,
lay them on their back. Straddle their legs and put the heel of your interlaced hands just above the navel and thrust inward and upward five times. Sweep the mouth to remove the obstruction and repeat until successful.

Alternately, if they are in a position where you can do so, give the unconscious victim five hard blows to the back between the person’s shoulder blades using the bottom part or heel of your hand. Sweep the mouth to remove the obstruction and deliver an additional five separate forceful strikes.

BURNS

Burns occur frequently during survival situations. A burn is damage to your body’s tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or radiation. Scalds from hot liquids and steam, building fires, and flammable liquids and gases are the most common causes of burns. Burns can cause swelling, blistering, scarring, and, in serious cases, shock and even death. It’s important to note the distinction in the severity of burns in order to administer the proper care.

First degree:
This is the least serious and affects only the outer layer of skin. The skin is usually red, often accompanied by swelling.

Second degree:
This is when the burn has affected the second layer of skin, called the dermis. Blisters develop, and the skin becomes reddened and splotchy in appearance.

Third degree:
In these most serious burns, all layers of the skin are damaged. The burn destroys skin tissue, fat, and muscle, and may even reach the bone. Third-degree burns can appear charred black or sometimes dry and white.

Short-term Treatment

1. Stop the continued destruction of tissue by running cool water at low pressure over the wound.

2. Remove jewelry and clothes from areas that have been burned.

3. Cover the burn with a sterile dressing or clean and dry improvised dressing.

4. Don’t put any ointment on the wound just yet.

5. Try to have the person drink fluids.

6. Electrical burns often cause serious injury to organs inside the body. This injury may not show on the skin.

7. A chemical burn should be flushed with large amounts of cool water. Take off any clothing or jewelry that has the chemical on it. Don’t put anything on the burned area, such as antibiotic ointment. This might start a chemical reaction that could make the burn worse.

8. Get ready to treat for shock, if necessary.

Long-term Treatment

It’s important to get immediate medical attention if:

• A first- or second-degree burn covers an area larger than two to three inches in diameter

• The burn is on your face, over a major joint (such as the knee or shoulder), or on the hands, feet, or genitals

• The burn is a third-degree burn

Burns also can lead to infections, because they damage your skin’s protective barrier. Antibiotic creams can prevent or treat infections. After a third-degree burn, you need skin or synthetic grafts to cover exposed tissue and encourage new skin to grow. First- and second-degree burns usually heal without grafts.

How Long Does It Take For Burns To Heal?

• First-degree burns usually heal in three to six days.

• Second-degree burns usually heal in two to three weeks.

• Third-degree burns usually take a very long time to heal.

BITES AND STINGS

Bites and stings are not often fatal, but they certainly can be. For some people, a bite or a sting can simply cause an irritation, bring about disease, or even send the body into shock. Certain insects and snakes, however, have venom that can cause death.

In all cases, if you get bitten or stung, do not scratch the site because you will further aggravate and potentially infect it.

Bee and Wasp Stings

For most people, bee and wasp stings will be an irritation, albeit a potentially painful one. At the first sign of a bee or wasp attack, the primary goal should be to get off the X and make sure you aren’t near a hive or other area with the potential for swarm activity.

While not everyone is susceptible to
anaphylactic shock,
or
anaphylaxis,
from the venom of certain bites and stings, it is such a serious condition that getting yourself and your family tested to see if you’re at risk is prudent. If you have been bitten or stung and have experienced anything more than a local swelling/irritation at the point of damage, then you are at a higher risk for this to occur to you. Still, many people who have had no previous adverse reactions suddenly find themselves under the threat of anaphylactic shock. The tests aren’t perfect and can’t determine everything, but the information they yield might just save your life someday.

1. Remove the stinger by scraping with a sharp edge, the same way you would sharpen a knife on a flat stone or use a spatula to flip a pancake.

2. Determine if victim carried epinephrine or some other treatment that needs to be immediately administered.

3. Wash site with soap and water.

4. Relieve discomfort with cold water.

5. Use antibiotics, depending on the type of wound, or with the advice of a physician.