Medical Emergencies

You can't be assured that an accident or even an emergency braking situation will end safely for you. Likewise, you cannot predict if anybody in your car will feel ill or experience chest pains before you reach your destination.

There are many medical emergencies that may be prevented. Any one, for example, who knowingly neglects taking their daily medications on even a short trip – either driver or passenger – is asking for problems.

Those who suffer from cardiac problems such as Arterial Sclerosis are required to keep Nitroglycerine or similar medicines in their pocket when they travel. The same situation is true for diabetics, asthmatics, hemophiliacs, or those who are allergic to something – the only difference being the kind of medicine they must carry.

There are plenty of other diseases that require taking medications regularly. If you ignore it, an expanded gap of time between doses of medication may cause instability, or even complications.

Irregular usage of even cold medicine can increase body temperature. If one neglects to take cough medicine, severe coughing can distract the driver, even if it is the passenger coughing.

If An Emergency Happens

Medical emergencies that happen in a car with the driver or a passenger can be disastrous for both that car and others. Only people who can keep themselves in control, have the necessary knowledge, and are able to implement it in practice, may handle such emergencies successfully.

Ideally those people are medical professionals, but you may not have them available when you or your passenger are in need. Practically, it takes at least 10 minutes for a paramedical team to get there. So, the solution is: be prepared!

These days you can attend free courses that teach CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) and other useful medical skills.

Bleeding

A car is made of materials that can become sharp objects as a result of a collision. Any laceration can cause certain amounts of bleeding, but if it crosses a big vein or artery, it can lead to the severe blood loss.

If you happen to be at the scene of an accident and a victim is bleeding, after making sure that the victim’s neck is immobilized, try to control the bleeding.

If a vein is damaged, blood comes out of the wound as a steady stream, while a broken artery gushes with every heart pump.

All veins but one return blood to the heart. If a vein is damaged and visible through the skin, maintain pressure on that vein against the bone in a place that is farther from the heart than the wound.

If the wound is deep, you also must maintain pressure on the wound.

If the wound is on extremity, an you are trying to control veinal bleeding, apply a tourniquet (you can substitute a dress belt for a medical tourniquet) farther from the heart than a wound (if you are trying to control arterial bleeding, you have to place the tourniquet closer to a heart than a wound). Do NOT forget to attach a notice to the tourniquet with the date and exact time you applied it—an extremity CANNOT be cut off from the blood supply longer than 2 hours.

If any foreign object is visible in the wound (even if it's a knife), never remove it!

Removal could cause additional damage to vessels, organs, or nerves, and even more important, increase blood loss.

All arteries carry blood from the heart to the tissues. If an artery is damaged, pressure against a bone must be maintained with the helper’s thumb on the same artery in the place closer to the heart than the wound. Bleeding from the arteries in the groin or buttocks is the only exception: to stop it you have to press on the abdominal aorta against the spine with your fist right above the umbilici. There are just a few places on our body which you can use to slow down blood flow in the appropriate artery. You can detect all of them by checking for a pulse in that place (to stop arterial bleeding from the colored area you must press much harder).

Look at the picture, and practice on your body: Press against the neck portion of the spine at the point of the carotid synus matching this color Press against the bone (the humerus at the shouder joint) in the arm pit at the point matching this color Press against the bone (the humerus at the elbow joint) in the cubital area at the point matching this color Press against the spine above the umbilici at the point matching this color Press against the thigh bone (the femur at the pelvic joint: it feels like a ball in a socket) in the groin at the point matching this color Press against the bone (the radius) on the wrist at the point matching this color Press against the bone (the ulna) on the wrist at the point matching this color Press against the bone (the tibia at the knee joint) behind the knee at the point matching this color

Bleeding from small and medium veins can stop itself. Arterial bleeding may cause a severe complication – shock – in a very short time, or even cause death.(We do not discuss treatment of shock here, because ALL people with bleeding caused by a traffic collision MUST be hospitalized anyway.)

There is one type of bleeding – nose bleeds – that requires different handling. If you have a confirmation from the victim that such bleeding occurs frequently and s/he has a history of high blood pressure, let it bleed for a while.

Such a technique may allow blood pressure to drop a little bit, and it might be a benefit to this person.

Nose bleeds may also be provoked by high temperature or tissue irritation. In this case, the best you can do is to press on the nostril from one side for a few minutes.

Trauma

Severe bleeding is not the only life-threatening situation you may face as a result of a traffic collision. Brain and nerve damage, burns, bone fractures, tendon and ligament damage, and high voltage trauma are all possible in a car crash. Bone fractures are easy to spot: if a bone is fractured, the body has a noticeable deformation.

First aid for fractures should be administered by trained medical expert. A bystander can only keep the body immobilized to prevent further damages. This is especially true for head and neck injuries.

Use a blanket or warm clothing to keep the victim warm. But, if you spot a chest wound that is sucking or expelling air (bubbling blood), there may be lung damage: press on the wound with a plastic bag to close it.

Heart Attack

Heart attack victims are pale, friquently grimace, and experience heavy, cold sweating. They may say that they feel a squeezing pain in their chest.

If that man (predominantly men suffer from heart attacks) or woman has already experienced such a pain, he/she may have medicine prescribed which can solve the problem in minutes.

Your help may be needed to open windows or turn on the air conditioner or heater, or to offer warm clothes to cover their feet and adjust the car seat to make them comfortable. If they ask you to take them to the nearest medical center, do so as gently as possible.

Unfortunately, not every victim understands what they are experiencing. Some may think they simply overate. If you mention the posibility of a heart attack, they go in denial.

Don’t believe them! If the person is afraid to move, if his/her face is pale and sweaty, or if s/he says the chest pain increases, insist that they stay seated in a comfortable position, and call 9-1-1 immediately!

Keep in mind that people who suffer from stomach gas are usually active, and do not fear that pain.

If the Situation Is Getting Worse

If a person is suffering from a heart attack and assistance is not available, his/her condition may become critical. His or her replies to your constant questions "Are you Okay?" will become slower.

The only help you can provide is to have them lie flat, face up, with slightly lifted legs. Also they should be covered with warm clothes or blankets. 9-1-1, of course, should be called as soon as possible.

Sometimes young people, usually teenagers, predominantly women, suffer from low blood pressure episodes when they stand up quickly after long time sitting. Those episodes are not associated with heart disease: it happens because the size of the heart is relatively small for the fast growing body, and their nervous system is immature. The same situation can happen due to starvation.

Small Problems Also Happen

There are several small problems which may occur, but without proper care they might become big problems for the motorist. One of them – a severe coughing episode, due to cold, asthma, or a foreign object in the throat – may distract a driver. If it happens to you, don't panic. First, slow down. Then try to hold your breath (ideally you shouldn’t breath for 30 to 40 seconds) and massage your Adam's apple.

If it happens to your passenger, recommend that s/he do the same. If you are the passenger, in addition to the procedure described above, help the driver steer to the side of the road to avoid a collision. Maintain your composure: direct the driver firmly, but never scream.

This technique will also prevent hyperventilation. The most dangerous outcome of hyperventilation for a motorist is cramps. The best solution for cramps is the same as for a coughing fit: steer to safety first, and then do whatever it takes to help yourself or your passengers.

If you or any of your passengers have been bitten by a venomous snake, stung by an insect (especially if you allergic to them), or bitten by an unknown dog or wild animal, take the victim to the nearest medical center. For snake bites, apply a tourniquet closer to the heart than the bite.

Diabetes is another problem that may require a visit to the hospital. If you know for certain that your diabetic friend had an insulin shot an hour ago, and he/she becomes weak, or loses consciousness, you may try to give him or her some sugar of any type (candy, soda, ice-cream) to help him or her to regain alertness. You should drive him/her to the hospital regardless.