first aid IF there was an eye injury

[Richter]

Today i went for instruction for first aid and CPR that my work payed for. One thing that came up was the following example: If you have someone with an eye injury and the eye still has and object/objects in it; what you should do? Besides on how to take care of the eye something that was instructed caught my attention; they told us you are suppose to cover the other uninjured eye. You are suppose to cover the other eye because people move boths eye at the same time unconciously. So when one eye is moving the other eye is also moving.

When i heard this i immediate thought about reffing and how if there was an accident with an eye injury how i would go about it.


I was wondering how other people/refs/fields prepare for injuries at a field:

Such as cuts and bruise, to badly sprang ankles to the dreaded eye injury.

[buzzboy]

Ok, about 3 years last spring I got caught by a piece of wood from a lawnmower in the right eye. And let me say it sucked. Luckly it hit flat and bounced off. Lost vision completely for like 30 minutes. Almost retnal detachment etc.

At the doctor they rinsed it out and checked for retnal detachment. There was none(thank god) so I got put on steroids to build eye muscles and kept that eye dialated(to stop the muscles from moving it and tearing it up). For the next six weeks(seemed like a lot more) I had to walk slowly, keep my head still and wear sunglasses all the time. Also I had to set my bed up so I always slept on the left side so I wouldn't roll over on it. And thats my story.

Eye injuries suck. Even though I was only blind for 30 minutes it really gave me a scare. Now I have only slightly worse vision(now its 20/30 instead of 20/15) and a teridgium(sp) growing on my eye.

[Al_Steel]

It would be nice if all fields had EMT's on staff to handle such emergencies. However most fields are isolated and several minutes from a hospital or ER so YOU may find yourself as the immediate aid giver. That's why I always carry a first aid kit in my car, especially when I am partcipating in an outdoor activity.

For anything as serious as a blow to the eye the first thing you need to do is to asses the victim to determine the severety of the strike:

MILD to MODERATE SEVERITY
- If it was an eye strike, with no bleeding, perforation, or contusion of the eye, socket, or lid you should apply a cold compress without putting pressure on the eye. Crushed ice in a plastic bag, a cold washcloth, pack of frozen peas, etc. This is the same thing you would do for a black eye.
- Watch the victim for signs of severe or increasing pain, blurred or reduced vision, deep redness or bleeding of the sclera (whites). If any of this occurs or was present from the onset contact medical assistance or see a doctor immediately.
- It may take a few hours for the full effect of an eye impact to be understood so continue to evaluate the injury for 12-24 hours for changes in symptoms.

EXTREME SEVERETY
- If there is:
a) Bleeding or contusion of the eye, eyelid, or any tissue surrounding the eye
b) Large particles of paintball shell, or shards of broken paintball goggle in the eye
the first thing to do is contact or seek emergency medical assistance.
- Seek immediate emergency medical care for this kind of injury!!!
- DO NOT rub, or touch the injury
- DO NOT attempt to remove any thing that is lodged in the eye or the surrounding tissue.
- DO NOT remove the goggles if they have broken and lodged in the eye or surrounding tissue in such a way that removing the goggles will put strain on the injury.
- DO NOT wash the eye with water or any other fluid
- DO NOT apply a dressing or a compress.
- Cover the injured eye with a rigid shield which can protect the eye from further injury. An example of a rigid shield would be the bottom of a paper cup taped over the injued eye socket so that it covers the injury but does not touch the injury.
- It may be a good idea to cover both eyes to keep the injured eye as immobile as possible IF you can immobilize the victim and wait for transport or safely carry the person. However, it's NOT a good idea to cover both eyes if the person has to walk. This could risk him/her falling and further injuring the eye or sustaining another injury.

If you are in any doubt as to how to treat this kind of injury DO NOT attempt it! You risk permanently damaging someone eyesight. You are better off just keeping the person calm and contacting qualified emergency personnel.

Stay Safe!

[Army]

Just gouge out the other one. I mean, you get a free dog that knows cool tricks

[neppo1345]

My dad always just told me to "walk it off"...

he's a paramedic...I listen...

I'd assume this goes the same for an eye injury as well...

[SR_matt]

pretty much every field ive worked at didnt have any training for refs, none the less any medical training for them. i really think it should be come common pratice to make everyone get CPR and first aid cert if they are going to be reffing.

ironic, i was thinking about this the other day at work (but i work at a pool, dont ask i was thinking about it becasue i really dont know) but in my training and in boy scouts we were always told to cover it with liek a cup or something and get the person to an ER. also IIRC we were told to try to pad the piece a little as well, hmmmmm i need to go look that up to make sure.


-matt

[Arstron]

Well I have a nice sized trauma bag that goes everywhere I go. A cup (if needed) and a bunch of gauze and cling will do the trick nicely though.

[MANN]

Almost all chemical warnings say that you should rinse out any chemical that gets in your eye, and contact medical assistance. As far as getting paint from a paintball in your eye it should be similar.

I was working on my motorcycle a few years ago, and battery acid from the "puke tube" (it was an old battery the kind you use to fill) flipped into my eye (and the rest of my face). It felt like my whole face was on fire. I immedeatly (sp) flipped my contacts out, and ran to the water hose to flush them out with water. I could not see out of the eye that had acid(sulfuric) in it. Luckly my little brother was near by to rush me to the emergency room. I had to wear a cover for 2-3 weeks, along with taking eyedrops & pills. The ER doc told me that if I didnt have contacts in that absorbed most of the acid, along with quickly rinsing them out that I would have lost eye site in that eye.

As far as getting something ridgid in your eye (ie a stick, piece of your mask, etc) you are suposto leave it in there, and rush to the ER.

When I was little we use to make num-chucks out of sticks and yarn.(the wepon of choice for Michelangelo from the ninja turtles). One of them broke while playing, and went into my sister's eye. Luckly my aunt is a nurse, and she happened to live with us at the time. She rushed her to the ER, and they took it out (it was in the corner of her eye not actually in the eye ball). The treatment after the accident was similar to what they gave me, and her eye was better after a few weeks.

On every case of an eye injury it is best to call 911. It better to waste 200 dollars on an emergency room visit than to loose an eye.

As far as being shot in the eye without a mask (or through the mask), I dont know how it should be treated. If anyone is in the medical field, and could give their .02$ I would love to hear the "correct" way of handling it, but I would guess it will be the same response of "just rush them to the ER, and let them deal with it."

[hipster]

I know it was said twice but it needs to be said again
do not remove anything which has punctured an eye - eye fluid is the only body fluid which can not be replaced and there is 50 /50 chance of the ER being able to remove it and repare it ( prob not full vision but some is better than none)

[punkncat]

Like the above poster, I had a battery explode in my face. My face, eyes and mouth were covered with it. Luckily for me there was a homeowner standing in his driveway with a hose and sprayed me almost instantly.


A few years later I hit myself in the eye with a fiberglass rod. I had to sit on the couch with my eyes closed for 10 days. It sucked hard.

[geekwarrior]

A few years later I hit myself in the eye with a fiberglass rod. I had to sit on the couch with my eyes closed for 10 days. It sucked hard.

that would suck...what do you do for 10 days with your eyes closed? cant watch tv, computer....hopefully you had a wife or girfriend that kept you happy.....shoot, if you were blind, you could have had any fat broad off the street, you wouldnt have cared

[punkncat]

that would suck...what do you do for 10 days with your eyes closed? cant watch tv, computer....hopefully you had a wife or girfriend that kept you happy.....shoot, if you were blind, you could have had any fat broad off the street, you wouldnt have cared

Well I listened to a lot of radio. I actually cheated quite a bit as well. Third day in I was almost wishing for death.

[SR_matt]

should have taken up panio, gotten a littel lap sized key board and played. we have a blind priest at my church that is an awesome piano player (he normaly plays and sings at every mass its rather hard core... and im not a very hard core catholic)
-matt