A Queensland mum is warning others to regularly replace their hot water bottles after one split and burned her four-year-old son, narrowly missing his genitals.

Harmony Arrowsmith had filled the hot water bottle for her son to help keep him warm on what was a brisk Sunday morning in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

She filled it with hot, not boiling, water from the kettle and tightly fastened the lid.

“I had put it on his lap and he started crying,” Ms Arrowsmith said.

“He was like ‘ow, ow’ so I pulled it off and thought it was leaking.

The bottom of the water bottle had split.

“I pulled his pants down and we just went straight to the shower and I had him in the cold shower.”

Ms Arrowsmith and her father drove the boy to the local hospital but later went to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital (LCCH) in Brisbane where the wounds were further assessed and dressed.

“[He’s got] second-degree burns on his right upper thigh all over the top, and some on the groin as well … and a few others on his left leg,” she said.

“We’re very, very lucky that it missed the worst spot that it could get. It would’ve gotten a lot more complicated if those bits got burnt.

“That’s why they sent us down to Lady Cilento to make sure that it was all going to be okay.” Lucky we completed a first aid training course recently.

Hot water bottles have a date stamp

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) up to 200 people are hospitalised in Australia annually as a result of burns from water bottles.

ACCC commissioner and deputy chair, Delia Rickard, said injury from a hot water bottle could lead to third-degree burns and skin grafts.

“The skin of younger and older people is often thinner and more delicate and vulnerable to more serious burns,” Ms Rickard said.

“Diabetics are prone to burns to their hands and feet while using a hot water bottle.”

There are mandatory standards for hot water bottles sold in Australia including that they must be manufactured from rubber or polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Consumers are also advised to replace them annually based on the date of manufacture which is shown on the daisy wheel or date stamp on the hot water bottle.

The daisy wheel below shows it was manufactured in the third week of February, 2008.

Ms Arrowsmith realised in hindsight that the water bottle she used was actually three years old and she was not aware of the need to regularly replace it.

She took to social media to warn other parents after hospital staff advised that these types of burns happened regularly

“It never crossed my mind to check the wear and tear of these water bottles,” Ms Arrowsmith said.

“I had the [bladder] wrapped in a fluffy case and I’d never take it out to check.

“I’ll never make that mistake again.”

Ms Arrowsmith said it has been heartening to know that in speaking out she has helped others.

“A lot of people have said that they would have had no idea to look … they’ve checked their hot water bottles and are either throwing them out or changing to other heating alternatives.”

The Australian and New Zealand Burns Association (ANZBA) has made several safety recommendation to prevent burns from hot water bottles, including not sleeping with a hot water bottle, and not using boiling water to fill a hot water bottle.

First aid and recovery

Book in to a first aid training course here www.canberrafirstaid.com

First Aid Courses in Dickson Canberra. Nationally Recognised Training and Certificate. Free Parking. Free First Aid Manual. Free CPR Face Mask.

SCIENTISTS searching for sea snakes never expected to stumble across this find.

First Aid in Canberra. Book your first aid training today. Excellent Trainers. Great Location. Loads of added Extras. Plus your Nationally Recognised Certificate.

FOR almost two hours a 29-year-old man was buried in sand up to his chin, unable to move and only able to scream for help.

Originally published as Man swallowed by sand dune

Book a course with us at www.canberrafirstaid.com or check our other provider friends at www.allenstraining.com.au

First Aid Course in Canberra. Nationally Recognised Training and Certificate. Free First Aid Manual. Free Parking. Free CPR Face Mask.

If your looking for a course in Syn ey see our team at www.simpleinstruction.com.au

By JOHN McCOY

HD Media

HUNTINGTON – Dr. Chuck Clements likes to be prepared. Clements, who teaches wilderness first aid to students at the Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, believes in carrying first-aid kits suited to specific outdoor activities: backpacking, bicycling, whitewater rafting, skiing, etc.

“If possible, you should build a first-aid kit based on what you intend to be doing,” Clements said. “But there’s a basic first-aid kit everyone can, and should, carry. It weighs just a few ounces, and it fits into a large sandwich bag. With it, you can handle just about any wound or fracture – and wounds and fractures are 80 percent of what you’ll encounter in the field.”

Most of the items in Clements’ basic kit are used to stop bleeding.

“The most common injuries are scrapes, scratches and cuts,” he said. “The items in this kit will stop bleeding even if there’s major trauma, or even an [accidental] amputation.”

He said bleeding from most wounds can be stanched with a simple 4-by-4-inch gauze pad.

“If the cut is above the waist, you can simply put pressure on the wound with the pad and hold it in place while you seek help,” he continued.

If the wound is on a leg, he said the pad should be held in place with some sort of wrap, either gauze or elastic.

For deeper wounds with major bleeding, Clements packs a secret weapon – a pad impregnated with a product called QuikClot.

“If there’s a significant bleed, QuikClot will stop it,” he said. “You apply it, and the bleeding stops just like that. Once the bleeding is stopped, you can wrap over the pad to hold it in place.” The pads cost about $10, and are widely available online.

Clements said there’s also a QuikClot product called a Trauma Pak, which costs about $20.

“It’s just about everything you need to stop bleeding, and it will fit into a hip pocket,” he said.

Even though he doesn’t consider it something that’s likely to be used, Clements’ basic kit also includes a CAT Tourniquet.

“CAT stands for Combat Application Tourniquet,” he explained. “It’s designed to be applied easily, using only one hand.”

As he said that, Clements unfurled the tourniquet, slipped it onto his left arm and tightened it in about 5 seconds.

“You really wouldn’t need a tourniquet unless there was major arterial bleeding or an amputation, but since a CAT tourniquet takes up very little space and only weighs a couple of ounces, so why not put it in your kit just in case?”

The brand-name CAT Tourniquet costs about $25, but Clements said knock-offs are available for as little as $10.

Clements’ kit also includes a handful of surgical gloves.

“Your hands might be dirty, so why not take some gloves so you can be as clean as possible while treating a wound?” he asked.

As hard as it might be to believe, the product Clements uses to treat fractures also fits into his sandwich-bag-sized kit. It’s called a SAM splint. SAM stands for Structural Aluminum Malleable, and that pretty succinctly describes what it is and how it works.

The splint incorporates a thin sheet of aircraft aluminum sandwiched between two layers of lightweight closed-cell foam. Fully extended, it measures 36 inches long by 51/2 inches wide and about 1/4 inch thick. It’s designed to be molded around the broken limb and wrapped in place using gauze or an elastic bandage.

“It can be bent and folded to splint just about any fracture you’ll encounter, and you can also fold it down so it fits nicely into that sandwich bag,” Clements said. “Each splint costs about $10, but you can get knock-offs for as little as $3 apiece.”

Other summertime hazards include sunburn, exposure to poison ivy and bee stings.

“With those in mind, it wouldn’t hurt to tuck a small tube of SPF-30-or-higher sun block into your kit, as well as some Bendadryl tablets,” Clements said.

Using two fingers, he grabbed his sandwich-bag kit by one corner and held it up.

“I’m all for smaller and lighter,” he said. “This doesn’t take up much space, and it weighs almost nothing. It’s good insurance to have if you’re going to be outdoors.”

Book a first aid course with us at www.canberrafirstaid.com

Launceston’s Lachlan Hindrum successfully defended his state Open Individual title, tending to the simulated injuries of two people involved in a mock explosion.

The Year 11 student will go to Melbourne next January for his second national appearance, having placed third in the previous Australian championships earlier this year.

He will be joined by Hobart cadets Aden Roberts, Alana Cornish and Angelina Welsh — Hussian who will represent Tasmania in the team event.

St John Ambulance state commissioner Carl Graham said the competitors were extraordinary young people who were willing to step forward and help save someone’s life.

Aged between eight and 17 years, the competitors from the state’s north, south, and north-west demonstrated their first-aid and patient-care skills in simulated situations.

“The simulated scenarios used in the competitions provide an opportunity for these dedicated young people to put their lifesaving knowledge and skills to practice,” Mr Graham said.

“St John Cadets and Juniors at the competitions have made a commitment to support their community,”

“Many of the young people demonstrating their skills … will become our health care professional and community leaders of the future.

“St John’s aim is to save lives by encouraging every home, workplace and car on the road to have someone trained in first aid in them.”

St John Ambulance Tasmania state cadet and junior competition results

Junior Individual: Ryan Dobson, Hobart Cadets

Junior Team: Ella Swan and Amelia Hughes, Launceston Cadets

Novice Individual: Rhyley Swan, Launceston Cadets

Novice Team: Tamzin Graham, Alisa Talbot and Bella Kings, Hobart Cadets

Open Individual: Lachlan Hindrum, Launceston Cadets

Open Team: Aden Roberts, Alana Cornish and Angelina Welsh-Hussian, Hobart Cadets

First Aid Training Course In Canberra. Nationally Recognised Certificate with all Sessions. Experienced Trainers. Quality Education. Free Parking.

It’s essential that you have some fundamental first-aid skills to be able to cope with disaster. The American Red Cross, Canberra First Aid and other safety and service agencies say these a few of the things that you need to know.

Performing CPR

1. Place your hands, one on top of the other, in the middle of the chest. Use your body weight to help you administer compressions that are at least two inches deep and delivered at a rate of at least 100 compressions per minute.

2. With the person’s head tilted back slightly and the chin lifted, pinch the nose shut and place your mouth over the person’s mouth to make a complete seal. Blow into the person’s mouth to make the chest rise. Deliver two rescue breaths, then continue compressions.

Note: If the chest does not rise with the initial rescue breath, re-tilt the head before delivering the second breath. If the chest doesn’t rise with the second breath, the person may be choking. After each subsequent set of 100 chest compressions, and before attempting breaths, look for an object and, if seen, remove it.

3. Keep performing cycles of chest compressions and breathing until the person exhibits signs of life, such as breathing. Or continue until an automated external defibrillator machines becomes available, or EMS or a trained medical responder arrives on scene.

Note: End the compression cycles if the scene becomes unsafe or you cannot continue performing CPR due to exhaustion.

TOURNIQUET:

Apply the tourniquet

Wrap the tourniquet around the bleeding arm or leg about two to three inches above the bleeding site (be sure NOT to place the tourniquet onto a joint — go above the joint if necessary).

Pull the free end of the tourniquet to make it as tight as possible and secure the free end.

Twist or wind the windlass until bleeding stops.

Secure the windlass to keep the tourniquet tight.

Note the time the tourniquet was applied.

Source: https://www.bleedingcontrol.org/resources/how-to-stop-the-bleed

Controlling bleeding

Apply direct pressure on wound with a sterile dressing (if available)..

Elevate injured area above the heart if possible.

Secure dry, sterile dressings with bandages.

Cleanse minor injuries thoroughly with plain soap and water (clean your hands first).

If evidence of infection appears, see a doctor.

Treating fractures

Do not move the victim.

Keep the broken bone ends and adjacent joints from moving.

If an open wound is present, control the bleeding.

Apply splints.

Treating shock

Keep victim lying down.

Cover the victim with only enough material to keep him from losing body heat.

Obtain medical help as soon as possible.

Book in to a first aid training course at www.canberrafirstaid.com

First Aid Course in Canberra. Excellent Training Methods. Nationally Recognised Certificate. Free First Aid Manual And CPR Face Mask.

PHOENIX, June 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allergy sufferers who experience anaphylaxis—an acute, life-threatening allergic reaction requiring urgent treatment—may soon have a new delivery option for receiving a timely dose of epinephrine to avoid a potentially fatal outcome.

INSYS Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSY), a leader in the development, manufacture and commercialization of pharmaceutical cannabinoids and spray technology, announced today that its investigational epinephrine nasal spray showed promise in an early clinical trial as a potential needle-free, non-invasive and easy-to-use alternative to intramuscular injection for the treatment of anaphylaxis.

In a pharmacokinetics study involving 60 people with seasonal allergies, preliminary results showed that the bioavailability of the company’s novel, proprietary formulation of epinephrine delivered intranasally was similar to that of intramuscular injection with EpiPen^® (0.3 mg). The study also demonstrated rapid drug absorption with the epinephrine nasal spray.

“If the results of the initial study are borne out in a subsequent trial, this epinephrine nasal spray may become a viable alternative for patients with food allergy, venom allergy or other causes of anaphylaxis who must be prepared to treat it rapidly and effectively when it occurs,” said Dr. David Fleischer, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado who served as an advisory board physician. “Because epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylaxis, having other effective delivery options, such as a needleless alternative, may be attractive to patients and healthcare providers, as well as parents, school nurses, first responders and emergency department staff.”

“This is an exciting milestone for people affected by severe allergies who might be seeking an alternative delivery mechanism for epinephrine,” said Saeed Motahari, president and chief executive officer of INSYS Therapeutics. “Given that epinephrine is on the FDA shortage list, we look forward to working closely with the agency to determine the optimal path to making this investigational novel drug delivery system available to those in need.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, more than 200,000 cases of anaphylaxis occur each year in the United States. The World Allergy Organization estimates that up to two percent of the global population—as many as 150 million people worldwide—will experience anaphylaxis during their lifetime.

About INSYS

INSYS Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes innovative drugs and novel drug delivery systems of therapeutic molecules that improve patients’ quality of life. Using proprietary spray technology and capabilities to develop pharmaceutical cannabinoids, INSYS is developing a pipeline of products intended to address unmet medical needs and the clinical shortcomings of existing commercial products. INSYS is committed to developing medications for potentially treating addiction to opioids, opioid overdose, epilepsy and other disease areas with a significant unmet need.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements including our belief in the potential for our proprietary formulation of epinephrine delivered intranasally to become an alternative to intramuscular injection of epinephrine as a treatment for anaphylaxis. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this news release. Actual results may differ materially from those in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, but are not limited to, risk factors described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017 and subsequent updates that may occur in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.

First Aid Course Canberra. Horrible Situation in Canada. Our Summer will arrive soon. Be Prepared. Get trained for Hyperthermia.  

A NASTY heatwave has killed 33 people in Quebec as high summer temperatures scorched eastern Canada.