Brief Summary
This video debunks common first aid myths with paramedics Randy Lee and Lorena Concepcion Martinez. They address misconceptions ranging from concussion management and seizure care to snakebites and CPR, providing accurate advice and highlighting the importance of seeking professional medical help. The key takeaways include avoiding actions that could worsen the situation, such as keeping someone with a concussion awake or attempting to suck venom from a snakebite, and emphasising the value of basic first aid knowledge and prompt medical intervention.
- Keeping someone with a concussion awake is unnecessary; monitor for specific symptoms instead.
- Never put anything in the mouth of someone having a seizure.
- The Heimlich manoeuvre, not back slaps, is the primary response for choking adults.
- Sucking venom from a snakebite is ineffective; seek immediate medical attention.
- CPR can be effectively performed with chest compressions alone.
- Do not remove a sharp object from a stab wound; stabilise it and seek medical help.
- Defibrillators are user-friendly and can be used by anyone following the device's instructions.
- Butter should not be applied to burns; use cool water instead.
- Avoid rubbing frostbitten skin; warm it gradually.
- Clean wounds with soap and water, not rubbing alcohol.
- Cardiac arrest and heart attacks are distinct conditions requiring different responses.
- Avoid putting someone who has overdosed in a shower or bath; seek immediate medical assistance.
Paramedics Randy Lee and Lorena Concepcion Martinez introduce themselves and explain that they will be debunking common first aid myths. They highlight several incorrect practices often portrayed in movies and popular culture, such as removing objects from stab wounds or slapping a choking person on the back, and aim to provide accurate first aid advice.
It's a myth that someone with a concussion needs to be kept awake. This idea stems from the outdated belief that sleeping could lead to a coma. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and while monitoring the person is important, sleep is not dangerous. Instead, watch for signs like slurred speech, vomiting, or unsteady walking. If these symptoms don't resolve, seek medical attention to rule out internal bleeding in the brain.
Putting something in the mouth of someone having a seizure is a dangerous myth. The fear that a person might swallow their tongue is unfounded; it's more likely they will clench their jaw due to muscle spasms. Inserting an object can cause dental damage, jaw fractures, or even injuries to the person trying to help. Instead, let the seizure pass, then roll the person onto their side and provide support until paramedics arrive. While most seizures resolve in 30 seconds to a minute, continuous seizures (status epilepticus) require advanced medical intervention to prevent breathing complications.
Slapping a choking person on the back is not the recommended first response for adults. While back slaps are used for choking infants and children, the Heimlich manoeuvre is more effective for adults. Encourage the person to keep coughing to clear the airway. The universal choking sign is hands clutched at the throat. If the airway becomes completely blocked, perform the Heimlich manoeuvre and call 999. The American Red Cross recommends five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts, while the American Heart Association advises going straight to abdominal thrusts. When performing abdominal thrusts, make a fist and pull inward and upward with force just above the navel.
Sucking venom out of a snakebite is ill-advised and ineffective. Once venom enters the bloodstream, it circulates rapidly, making it impossible to extract. Avoid using a tourniquet, as it can cause more damage. Sucking on the wound will only extract a minimal amount of venom and exposes the person to infection from your mouth. Instead, call emergency services immediately and transport the person to a hospital with a venom centre that stocks appropriate antivenoms.
CPR does not necessarily require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chest compressions alone can circulate blood and deliver oxygen to the brain, buying time for paramedics to arrive. Hands-only CPR is now strongly emphasised to avoid the transmission of communicable diseases. To perform CPR, expose the chest, place the palm of one hand in the centre, interlock your fingers, and push straight down about two inches for an adult, maintaining a rate of 100 compressions per minute. Consistent compressions are crucial, as any interruption reduces effectiveness. Begin CPR immediately, as irreversible brain damage can occur after about six minutes without intervention.
Removing a sharp object from a stab wound is extremely dangerous and should never be done. Removing the object will cause more tissue damage and increase bleeding. Instead, leave the object in place and stabilise it to prevent further movement, which could cause additional harm. This advice contradicts what is often shown in movies for dramatic effect.
You do not need to be medically trained to use a defibrillator. Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are designed for public use and are available in many municipal buildings. Using an AED is simple: open the device, press the power button, and follow the step-by-step voice prompts. The AED will guide you through the process, including pad placement, and will analyse the heart rhythm to determine if a shock is needed. If the person is unresponsive and potentially in cardiac arrest, use the AED as quickly as possible. The device will not administer a shock if the person is alive and does not need one.
Applying butter to a burn is not a helpful remedy. Butter traps heat, which can worsen the burn. Instead, cool the burn with cool (not cold) water to stop the burning process, regardless of the burn's severity. Keep the area clean and sterile, and seek medical care.
Rubbing frostbitten skin is not recommended. Friction can cause more damage to the skin tissue and cells. Instead, warm the affected area slowly by moving to a warmer environment and removing any wet clothing. Frostbite is characterised by waxy, puffy, and blistered skin. If you suspect frostbite, seek emergency medical treatment to prevent irreversible damage.
Cleaning wounds with rubbing alcohol is not advisable. Rubbing alcohol can be very painful and is unnecessary. Instead, use simple soap and water, or antibacterial soap if available. Alcohol can dry out the wound, which is not conducive to healing. Keep the wound moist and covered with a bandage for a day or two to control bleeding. After that, apply a triple antibiotic ointment and allow the wound to air dry to promote scabbing, which is a natural protective barrier.
Cardiac arrest and a heart attack are not the same thing. Cardiac arrest means the heart has stopped beating, resulting in unconsciousness and absence of breathing. CPR is necessary in this situation. A heart attack, on the other hand, involves a blockage in the heart, causing chest pain and shortness of breath. A person experiencing a heart attack is usually conscious and able to seek medical attention. Common symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, and excessive sweating. In either case, call 999 immediately.
Putting someone who has overdosed in the shower or bath is not the right approach. A sudden change in temperature can disrupt the body's homeostasis. Additionally, it complicates treatment for paramedics. Paramedics carry medications like Narcan to counteract opioid overdoses and other drugs to address different types of overdoses. It's crucial to provide accurate information about the drugs taken to ensure appropriate treatment.
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Transcript
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0:00 you should clean your wounds with rubbing alcohol ouch slap a choking person on the back yeah not really working after getting stabbed take out the sharp object from the body this is from movies um this is stupid don't do this hi my name is randy lee i'm a paramedic here in new york city and i've been working ems for 11 years hi my name is lorena concepcion martinez i am a paramedic here in new york city also with randy for the past 19 years and today we'll be debunking myths about first aid ready let's go if someone gets a concussion keep them awake this is an old wives tale they associated someone
0:46 having a concussion and going into a coma and not being able to wake up so that's why they used to say to keep everybody awake now we figured out that the sleeping does not cause the coma when someone has a concussion it is considered a type of tbi traumatic brain injury you do want to monitor them though you want to make sure there's no deficit no changes so things you're going to be looking out for would be slurred speech vomiting unsteady gait which means you're like wobbly when you walk a little dizzy yeah you don't want any of that so if you think that's a problem and it's not self-resolving then yeah take them to the hospital let them do a cat scan let them make sure that the patient's not having an internal bleed in their brain you should put something into the mouth of someone having a seizure negative this is a major no-no this is
1:32 another old wives tale of people thinking that the patient having a seizure was gonna swallow their tongue it's more muscle spasms and clenching of the jaw so you don't really have to worry about the patient swallowing the tongue or anything along those lines that whole time you're talking i tried to swallow my tongue i couldn't do it so it's not true when someone's having a seizure they're having these uh fasciculations this tightening of the muscles what'll happen is they'll clinch to their jaw and if you put something in their mouth they'll break their teeth they'll break their jaw back your finger off yeah don't do it you also want to let the seizure pass you want to make sure once they've stopped you can roll them on their side and just kind of be supportive until ems arrives to help most seizures will resolve themselves after say 30 seconds to a minute but
2:21 if you have something called status epilepticus the patient will end up having continuous seizures which will affect their breathing that point is where you need that advanced medical care advanced life support paramedics like randy and i to come in and give medications to actually try to subside the seizures and transport the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible slap a choking person on the back this myth does come from how you treat an infant or a child that is choking because we do back slaps as we call them in an infant or a child but in adult you want to emphasize on doing the heimlich maneuver wait hold on i have a thing for this so imagine this guy's choking we're gonna try the back slap thing
3:08 yeah not really working if you come across a person choking try to encourage them to keep coughing so randy here is gonna show you the universal choking sign which is this is smiling clearly but you know they'll be like this that's the universal choking sign do not i stress do not give them anything in the drink you want them to keep coughing until they clear that airway and if it becomes completely obstructed that they can't get any air movement they can't speak and they start turning blue it's time for that heimlich and definitely 911. depending on who you follow the protocol for treating choking is a little bit different the american red cross recommends five back blows followed by five abdominal thrusts and repeat but
3:53 lorena and i follow the american heart association protocols so we go straight to the abdominal thrusts when you're doing the abdominal thrust like the old name of the maneuver you're gonna make a fist so this goes right to the navel just slightly above you're gonna do a pulling up motion like a j i'm gonna squeeze with a lot of force so unlike the movies and stuff this actually takes a lot of effort you can't just do it in one shot you're going to be really tired doing this and it's probably going to hurt the person as well but it's better than them choking to death there you go when you do this please make sure to keep your head to the side because if not the patient will bang you on your nose and you might end up with a bloody nose boom always suck the venom out of a snake
4:40 bite i'm sorry um i don't know how to answer this properly it's ill-advised to ever have an answer in her life where sucking something out is like your go-to thing if you drop food coloring into a cup of water it's very difficult to get it back together it's impossible to get it all out so the same applies for venom on a snake bite once it's in it's in the bloodstream it's gonna circulate so it's really not gonna do much the other thing is stay away from putting any kind of tourniquet it's gonna create more damage than what it's gonna help if someone's gonna be bit by a venomous snake sucking on the wound you're gonna get such a minimal amount out it's not going to do
5:25 anything and then you leave them exposed to infection because your mouth is probably dirty if you encounter someone who's had a venomous keyword venomous snake bite you definitely want to call as soon as possible and get that patient to the hospital you want to go to a venom center or a bite center and it's particularly a hospital that has all kinds of anti-venoms antidotes for this kind of incident cpr requires mouth to mouth cpr does not require mouth to mouth there are procedures of just doing chest compressions that allow you to make sure that blood circulating through the whole body to get oxygenated blood to the brain that's the goal it buys you time for us paramedics to show up a couple years back cpr was required
6:10 mouth-to-mouth but do you really want to put your mouth on a total complete stranger the american heart association and everyone else who teaches cpr have been doing a strong emphasis on hands only it eliminates the transmissions of any communicable diseases or anything along all those lines to do cpr properly you're going to want to expose the chest down so you have access to the bare chest palm your hand it's under the chest you're going to wrap your fingers around each other and then you're just going to push straight down for an adult it's about two inches or so but basically just going to keep that going on for 100 beats per minute there is a song that we utilize all the time historically we use staying alive staying alive staying alive so when
6:55 you're doing cpr the main thing you want to just maintain is that those compressions are going to be consistent anytime you stop that threshold goes down it causes a huge amount of detriments to the body you got to start doing it immediately you got like six minutes before you have irreversible damage to the brain so start cpr quick give them a good shot after getting stabbed take out the sharp object from the body this is from movies um this is stupid don't do this do not remove it you will cause a lot more tissue damage and cause a lot more bleeding so please i stress this please do not remove it leave it in place you should stabilize it so it doesn't go wiggling around inside because any kind of movement to the foreign object will create more
7:41 damage it's great movies though it's hysterical drama effect it's just like oh why no i don't get it yeah you have to be medically trained to use a defibrillator it'll make you feel more confident but you really don't what you see out there they're not actually defibrillators like you see in the movies paddles and all that craziness they don't let's show them okay so this is an aed this is an automatic external defibrillator a defibrillator basically shocks the heart all municipal buildings have these in every location so the best thing about defibrillators is that anyone can use them all you have to do is open it up and press the power button and it will literally tell you step by step what needs to be done open it up adult mode remove all clothing
8:28 from patient's chest did you pull the red handle sure doing pictures on pads there are photos to show you exactly where you're supposed to put these things on you want to use this as quickly as possible once you know the person is in cardiac arrest if the person is unresponsive but you're not sure you still want to use this and put it on the patient's chest if the patient's alive it will tell you not to shock analyzing heart rhythm provide chest compressions to the beat and continue cpr don't be afraid to ask someone to go get the defibrillator or the aed put butter on a burn to heal it what are you a piece of toast and that would be a no you do not put butter on a burn it's going to trap the heat and ultimately
9:15 the heat is going to keep radiant so it will continue to burn basically you want to stop the burning process no matter what it is it could be a first degree burn to a third degree burn you want to just eliminate that right so just cool water keyword cool not cold you just want to keep it clean sterile and cool it down seek medical care if you get frostbite on your hands rub them together to warm them up ooh i would say you don't want to do that i went from hot to cold yeah we did go from hot to cold if you do have frostbite on your fingertips or toes which is usually where it starts you never want to rub them the friction will cause more damage to the skin tissue and the cells below it so you want to warm them up slowly coming into a warmer
10:00 environment taking off any wet clothing on it and just gradually warming it up so how do you know the difference though between just being cold and having frostbite you'll have this waxy type deal on your hands your hands are going to be a little more puffy basically you're going to be blistered up imagine like just a really bad burn except the opposite because it's cold once you cross that frostbite threshold it's something that you definitely need to go to the emergency room to be treated by a physician because the amount of damage that can be done by treating it incorrectly can be irreversible you should clean your wounds with rubbing alcohol ouch i'm sorry this is painful just to think about it and that would be a no rubbing
10:45 alcohol is gonna be very painful so please stay away from rubbing alcohol just simple soap and water if you have antibacterial soap even better it cleans it sure but why go through the trouble of like actually hurting yourself essentially you also want to make sure that the wound stays moist and alcohol has this drying property that's not going to be conducive to healing anyway keep it simple soap and water if it's an abrasion a simple cut a day or two with a band-aid is always good just to control whatever bleeding you have that's the main key you want to do the triple antibiotic and let it get free air the air will actually help stimulate scabbing and scabbing is a natural barrier that the body creates so it can heal and regenerate wow cardiac arrest and a heart attack are the same thing
11:33 they're not the same thing cardiac arrest means that your heart stopped they are no longer conscious they are no longer breathing and their heart is no longer beating so this is where cpr comes into play heart attack you have an occlusion in your heart the heart is starving for air causing the chest pain you have the ability to get to the hospital you'll have shortness of breath you'll be diaphoretic which means really really sweaty all classic signs of a heart attack not everyone will have the same symptoms so remember call 9-1-1 for either one if you witness a drug overdose put the person in the shower or bath um no because one you have no idea what the person overdosed on any kind of dramatic change to someone's temperature
12:18 will throw the hemostasis of the body all out of whack what does that mean your body has a regulation of temperature you can't go into any extremes quickly yeah it just makes getting the patient out and treated a lot more difficult if they're like in a bathtub and wet and we as paramedics carry stuff such as narcan to help counteract yes any narcotic overdoses specifically for opioid overdoses but we also have other drugs that help with other types of overdoses so please make sure don't lie about what you took that makes it way harder for us because if you took drug a and you tell us it was drug b we're going to go the wrong route and the treatment will get skewed and then we'll figure it out eventually but then we have to backtrack and then go that route it's it's very dangerous so
13:05 no shower this is debunked look at all these myths the intention is there everyone wants to help somebody else that's great but you're going to want to get a little education on your back end take a first day of class you don't have to go to a level emt and paramedic and who knows you might be somebody's hero one day
