Outdoor enthusiasts love the sound of a crackling campfire. It lights the night and provides heat for warmth and cooking. It’s the staple ingredient of nearly every camping experience. And it can be one of the most dangerous, too.

For more than 100 years, St. John Ambulance has been helping people with first aid services, training and products. They offer the following safety suggestions so you can enjoy the glow of a campfire without incident.

Pick a safe location for the fire. Don’t build it too close to trees, brush, sleeping or eating areas. Find a spot where it can be sheltered from wind.

Never use chemicals such as gasoline, solvents or other volatile fuels to start a campfire.

Keep small hands away from flames.

Don’t build a fire too large to handle.

Always monitor a campfire. Never light a fire and ignore it.

Find a suitable tool for working with the fire. A green tree branch will make an acceptable “poker” and will burn less quickly than a dead twig.

Always keep water and loose dirt on hand to douse a fire.

Never leave a fire unattended overnight or if you leave the area. Make sure it is out by dousing it with water and spreading the ashes, combined with loose soil or sand.

First Aid for burns

Should you venture too close to the fire, you’re likely to get burned. Burns are measured by degrees of severity. A first degree burn is superficial damage to the top layer of skin only. A second degree burn goes deeper and damages both layers of skin, but not tissue beneath. The most serious, third degree burns, cause damage to both layers of skin and the tissue under.

Burns can be serious injuries and require immediate first aid attention. Depending on the severity of the burn, various forms of first aid may be required, followed by immediate medical help. For minor burns, basic first aid may be sufficient.

What to do for a burn

Assess the scene and make sure it is safe from further incident.

Cool the burn right away. Immerse it in cool water if possible. Otherwise, pour cool water on the area and cover it with a clean, wet cloth.

Loosen or remove anything on the burned area that is tight, but not stuck to the wound. This includes jewellery and tight clothing. Do this quickly before the injury swells.

Give ongoing casualty care, including arranging for medical help, first aid for shock and monitoring vital signs.

When pain has lessened, loosely cover the burn with a clean, lint-free dressing. If the area is large, use a sheet. Secure the dressing with tape, making sure there is no tape on the burned area. Follow these precautions for all burns:

Do not breathe on, cough over or touch the burned area.

Do no break blisters.

Do not remove clothing that is stuck to the burned area.

Do not use butter, lotions or oily dressings on a burn.

Do not cover a burn with cotton wool or other fluffy material.

Do not use adhesive dressings.

Cool the burned area but not the casualty. Ensure the casualty is warm and calm as possible.

For more than 115 years, St. John Ambulance has been providing quality services to prevent injury and reduce suffering. For more information on St. John Ambulance training and products, contact the branch nearest you.

Broken Bones

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=285&id=1569

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-fractures/FA00058

http://www.trivia-library.com/a/first-aid-treatment-for-broken-bones-joint-injuries-and-sprains.htm

broken arm broken leg

Scorpion Stings

– Signs and Symptoms of Scorpionism

Scorpion 2

Snake Bites

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000031.htm

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/snakebitetx.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-snake-bites/FA00047

Rattlesnake Hand Snake bite Arm bite

Pioneer Diseases

Cholera

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera

Information: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/cholera_g.htm

Cholera, a diarrhea illness, causes infection of the intestine. Some of the effects of cholera were watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. Cholera is spread by contaminated water and food. The bacterium may live in brackish rivers, and this is also how they got cholera.

Pioneers: “Sickness was a major problem. The worst sickness on the trail was cholera. Cholera is a very deadly and mysterious disease. A very healthy person could die in a matter of hours because of cholera. People would abandon friends and family on the side of the trail with their bed when the first sign of sickness appeared. In a bad year, they could lose half of their wagons population due to cholera. Bones could be found in the road and foul smells would appear near the corpse. “

An infectious disease caught by many emigrants on the Oregon Trail. It spread rapidly because of unsanitary water. There was no cure and most died within a day. There is almost no Cholera in the United States today because of better living conditions, but there have been epidemics recently in poor countries.”

Dysentery

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery

Information: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=25476

“Dysentery is an infectious disease of the intestines. The germs are spread by contaminated food and water supplies. Symptoms are diarrhoea, fever and pains in the stomach. The disease is common when sanitary conditions are bad and when the weather is warm. An outbreak of dysentery in 1473 between 15 and 20 per cent of the population of those towns and villages that were hit by disease. Dysentery can now be successfully treated with antibiotics.”

“This serious illness is caused by contaminated food or water and is characterized by severe diarrhea, often with blood or mucus in the stool.

There are two kinds of dysentery. Bacillary dysentery(shigellosis) is characterized by a high fever and rapid onset; headache, vomiting and stomach pains are also symptoms. It generally does not last longer than a week, but it is highly contagious.

Amebic dysentery is often more gradual in the onset of symptoms, with cramping abdominal pain and vomiting less likely; fever may not be present. It is not a self-limiting disease: it will persist until treated and can recur and cause long-term health problems.

A stool test is necessary to diagnose which kind of dysentery you have, so you should seek medical help urgently. In case of an emergency the drugs norfloxacin or ciprofloxacin can be used as presumptive treatment for bacillary dysentery, and metronidazole (Flagyl) for amebic dysentery.”

Intestines

Scarlet Fever

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_fever

Info: http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/scarlet_fever.html

“Scarlet fever, caused by Group A streptococcal bacteria, was a common disease at one time, especially in children. Named for the flushing of the face that it causes, it is characterized by a sore throat, chills, fever, headache, vomiting, rapid pulse, red rash, and an inflamed or “strawberry” tongue.”

Malaria

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria

Info: http://www.medicinenet.com/malaria/article.htm

Some of the symptoms for malaria are the chills, sweats, fevers, and abdominal pain. You can get malaria by getting bitten by a malaria infected mosquito. Then the malaria travels through your body to your liver. This is where malaria cells grow rapidly.

Typhoid Fever

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid_fever

Info: http://www.medicinenet.com/typhoid_fever/article.htm

Typhoid fever is a life-threatening disease of the intestinal system caused by the typhoid bacillus, Salmonella typhosa, which lives only in humanswho carry it in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. Typhoid fever is spread when the bacteria is “shed” by infected people who handle food or fluidswithout washing their hands, or when sewage carrying the bacteria contaminates water, milk, and other foods.

Measles

Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles

Info: http://www.medicinenet.com/measles_rubeola/article.htm

Unintended Consequences

Why were the wild animal s not as abundant as they had been before? Disease

introduced by the mountain men and their animal s may have reduced the

number of wild animal s. Indians killed animals in order to trade furs for things

they wanted from the Americans, such as horses and guns. Close association

between the pioneers and the Indians introduced diseases to which the native

people had no resistance. Typhoid, diphtheria, colds, influenza, chicken pox,

measles and smallpox often caused terror.

Diphtheria