What is the difference between poisoning and accidental first aid?

The most essential difference between the two is that the core priorities of treatment are completely different. Ordinary accidental first aid prioritizes immediate fatal injuries, while the first priority of poisoning first aid is always to cut off contact with the poison source and reduce poison absorption.

I have been doing pre-hospital first aid for almost 8 years, and I have encountered too many situations where family members confused the logic of the two and delayed things. The two cases that the police received last month were particularly impressive. One was a worker who was injured by a falling object at a construction site. When he arrived at the scene, he immediately pressed down on his bleeding arm to check whether his respiratory tract was blocked by blood clots or vomit. There was no need to ask whether he was hit by a brick or a steel bar. He first pressed down on the potentially fatal issue. ； The other was that a group of people in a work shed at the same construction site were poisoned after eating homemade pickles. When the time came, everyone was asked to stop eating the remaining pickles, and those who could cooperate independently were induced to vomit first. Even if someone had begun to lose consciousness, the unabsorbed nitrite in the stomach must be cleared out as much as possible, and then a symptomatic antidote was given. Otherwise, the toxins would continue to seep into the blood, and no amount of rescue measures could catch up with the speed of the damage.

I often tell the residents who come to the community to participate in first aid training that the difference between the two is actually easy to remember. An ordinary accident is like a water pipe in your home being smashed and leaking. You can plug the hole first and then find the cause of the blame.； Poisoning is like when dirty water enters your home's water pipes. If you don't turn off the main valve first, the water that leaks out will be dirty and no matter how much you wipe it, it will be useless.

There is actually a lot of discussion in the industry about the boundary between the two types of first aid. For example, when encountering unexplained syncope, should we first investigate the trauma as an accident, or should we investigate the possibility of poisoning first? Most of our veteran first responders at grass-roots stations tend to look at the environment first. If several people faint in a confined space at the same time, the first priority is to evacuate the person due to poisoning. If there is only one person next to him with traces of falling and bumps, he will first check for injuries according to accident. ； However, colleagues in the emergency department of large hospitals sometimes mention that there are more and more cases of poisoning by new poisons and special drugs. Many symptoms of poisoning are very similar to coma after trauma. It is best to investigate both sides at the same time. No one can say which one is absolutely correct. It must be adjusted flexibly based on the on-site situation.

I once read about a local case for help. An elderly man accidentally drank toilet cleaning liquid. The family thought it was an accident of swallowing a foreign object and drank half a cup of warm water to wash it down. As a result, the strong acid went down the digestive tract and burned it even more. When he was sent to the hospital, his esophagus was already burned over a large area. According to the logic of poisoning treatment, this kind of situation is known to be a strong acid and alkali situation. You must not induce vomiting or feed anything indiscriminately. Give 120 first, and then neutralize it by pouring some egg white or pure milk if possible. This is the problem caused by confusing the two types of first aid logic.

Don’t panic if you are really unsure. Move the person to a safe place first. Don’t feed the unconscious person casually. Call 120 as soon as possible to clarify the situation at the scene. This is more effective than any other remedies.