What to do in case of burns: top tips from the Ministry of Health

 Ukrainians began to suffer from even more burns during the war, After all, fires are inevitable companions of enemy shelling of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Health on its Facebook page gave some tips on what to do first after getting burned.

First, you need to immediately remove hot or burnt clothes. The wound should be washed with cool water or water at room temperature. Cooling will be effective for 5-10 minutes, but not more. Parts of the body that remain intact should be left dry and warm. It is not recommended to use ice and ice water. It is also better not to apply Panthenol to the burn.

After that, it is necessary to remove jewelry and tight clothes worn near the affected area. But do not touch foreign objects that are stuck to the skin damaged by the burn.

If the first aid kit has a burn dressing, it is better to use it. It not only cools the affected area, but also protects the wound from mechanical damage and infections. Such a bandage will not stick to the wound and will not injure it, will provide an environment with constant humidity and temperature in the affected area and will be able to absorb all the discharge from it. To use such a bandage, you need to remove the protective film from one side, then apply it to the wound, and then remove the outer protection from the other side. At the end, it should be loosely fixed to the skin with a bandage or adhesive plaster. In the absence of an anti-burn dressing, you should take a sterile bandage/gauze, but do not apply it tightly to the wound.

The victim should drink water to reduce intoxication. This will reduce the chance of dehydration.

It is imperative to take painkillers, such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, ketane, etc.

"The optimal position for a person with a burn of the face or eyes is sitting. This will help reduce swelling. In addition, facial burns, especially those sustained in a closed space, are usually combined with respiratory tract damage (black tongue, burnt nostril hair, changed voice, difficulty breathing). If you have a pulse oximeter (saturation is normal from 95-96% and above) or breathing rate control (normal 16-18 breathing cycles per minute), you will be able to notice the increase in respiratory failure in the victim in time and report it to doctors," the ministry added.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that in Kyiv, a man suffered burns to 50% of his body during a fire in a garage.

Only verified information is available onthe ObozrevatelTelegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!