Common Injuries in Games and Sports - Grade 4 Physical Health Education Revision Notes

• ABC of First Aid
  
  • Checking for Breathing.
  • Performing A Head Tilt.
  • Checking For Circulation.
  • Calming an Injured Person.
  • Signaling for help.
• First Aid Box.
  • Items Found in a First Aid Box.
  • Use of items in the first aid kit.
• Bruise 
  • Signs and symptoms of bruises.
  • Treating a bruise.
• Nose Bleeding
  • Cause of Nose Bleeding.
  • Safety Tips
• Types of wounds- Clean-cut wounds
  • Managing Open Wounds
• Transporting And Injured Victim
  • Single Human Crutch Method
    • How to do it.

Common Injuries in Games and Sports

•  First Aid -  refers to help given to an injured person until medical assistance is available.
• The injured person is referred to as casualty while the other person giving first aid is referred to as the first responder.
• The most common injuries that happen in a playground include falls and cuts leading to bruises, bleeding and fractures.

ABC of First Aid

1. - Airs
2. - Breathing
3.  - Circulation

Checking for Breathing.

• Begin by checking if the casualty is conscious by calling out their name or saying something to them.
• If they do not answer, shout out something to them, but is still unresponsive, check whether the casualty is breathing by putting your face close to their face and looking at the rise and fall of the chest.

Performing A Head Tilt.

• Incase the casualty is not breathing: the first responder needs to find out the reason by performing the head-tilt chin-lift to observe airways.

Steps in Performing Head-tilt Chin-lift

1. Kneel next to the casualty's head.
2. Place one hand on the patient's forehead and tilt the head gently backward.
3. Place two fingers under the bony part of their chin and lift the chin vertically upwards.
4. Take care not to place any pressure on the soft part of the neck as this could obstruct the airway.
5. Once the airway is opened, you can check for normal breathing.
6. Place the casualty in a recovery position. It involves casualty being rolled onto the side in order to maintain the airways open.

Checking For Circulation.

• It involves checking if the casualty has a pulse or beat. It is done by gently placing the index and middle finger on the chin under the jaw.
• If there is circulation , there will be pulse. You can also check the pulse on the wrist of the casualty.

Calming an Injured Person.

• Speak calmly to the casualty, ask their name, what day it is, where they are and what happened to them.

Signaling for help.

• When a person is hurt, the first responder should signal for help as fast as possible. This is because it may not be possible for one individual to give the required help.

First Aid Box.

• It's a box that contains essential medical items that can be used to give care to a casualty before medical assistance arrives.
• Some injuries maybe treated with the contents of a first aid box or kit. These include: bruises, sprains, nose bleeding and minor cuts.
• It is important to have a first aid kit both at home and at school as the contents can help in attending to minor ailments and injuries that occur at home or in school.

Items Found in a First Aid Box.

1. Bandage
2. Elastoplast (adhesive strip dressing)
3. Disposable latex gloves.
4. Eye wash
5. Iodine
6. Alcohol swabs or antiseptic wipes.
7. Sterile gauze
8. Pressure pad
9. Cotton wool or cotton balls
10. Tweezers
11. Scissors

Use of items in the first aid kit.

1. Adhesive strip dressing- it is used for minor cuts and skin injuries.
2. Non-adhesive dressings - used for covering burnt or abraded skin 
3. Wound dressing -  they are thick pads used to help control bleeding and reduce the risk of infection.
4. Crepe or conforming bandages - they are elastic bandages used to create pressure, hold dressing in place, reduce swelling and provide some support.
5. Triangular bandages - they are non- elastic bandages used for slings to hold splints in place and to restrict movement.
6. Sterile eyewash solution - used the flush eye lashes, insects, dust sand particles from the eye.

Bruise 

• Its an injury appearing as are of discoloured skin on the body, caused by a blow or impact rapturing underlying blood vessels.

Signs and symptoms of bruises.

•  Initially, a fresh bruise may actually be reddish. It will then turn blue or dark purple within a few hours, then yellow or green after a few days as it heals. A bruise is commonly tender, and sometimes even painful for the first few days, but the pain usually goes away as the color fades.

Treating a bruise.

• Rest and relevant the injured area to prevent swelling and relieve pain.
• Apply ice packs for the first 24 to 48 hours after injury. Wrap the ice pack in a towel and apply ice for no more than 15 minutes a time. repeat throughout the day. (ice packs should not be places directly on the skin)
• Apply a heating pad or warm compress to the injured area after two days. You can apply heat several times throughout the day.

Nose Bleeding

Cause of Nose Bleeding.

• Nose picking.
• Colds (upper respiratory infections)and sinusitis , especially episodes that cause repeated sneezing, coughing and nose blowing.
• Blowing your nose with force.
• Inserting an object into you nose.
• Injury to the nose and/or face
• Blood- thinning drugs(aspirin, non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, warfarin  and others.)
• Cocaine and other dugs inhaled through the nose.
• chemical irritants( chemicals in cleaning supplies, chemical fumes at the workplace, others strong odors.)
• High altitudes. the air is thinner(less oxygen) and drier as the altitude increases.
• Frequent use of nasal sprays and medications to treat itchy, runny or stuffy nose. these medications- antihistamines and decongestants can dry out the nasal membranes.
• Alcohol use.
• Bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or von Willebrand disease or leukemia.
• High blood pressure.

Safety Tips

• Do not touch blood of the casualty with your bare hands.

Types of wounds- Clean-cut wounds

• Open wounds can be caused by falls in the playground or sharp objects.

Managing Open Wounds

• The first step is to clean the wounds.
• Use antiseptic from the first aid box.
• If the cut is small on the surface, use alcohol swab(a wad of absorbent material usually wound around one end of a small stick and used especially for applying medication or for removing material from an area.), then cover with an adhesive strip dressing (elastoplast)
• If it is slightly deep, clean with running water from a tap or poured from a clean up then apply a band aid.
• If the cut is deep and there is a lot of bleeding, apply pressure on the wound with the pressure pad from first aid box.
• Keep the pressure on the wound until the bleeding stops, but do not remove the pad.
• Secure the wound after bleeding stops with a bandage. In the absence of a bandage, tie the wound with a clean piece of cloth.

Transporting And Injured Victim

Single Human Crutch Method

• It is a method used to support a casualty, an can only be used when the casualty is conscious and capable of assisting the first respondent.
• It can only be used when one has hurt only one leg. The first respondent is used as a crutch by the casualty.

How to do it.

1. Assist the casualty to stand by leaning on you.
2. He or she then puts the arm across your shoulder.
3. This should be the side with the hurt leg.
4. Grab the wrist of the hand across your shoulder and grab the waist from across the back of the casualty.
5. Let the casualty place the hurt leg on your foot so that his/her weight is mainly on you.