Do no harm in a poisoning, and don't lose minutes in a severe allergic reaction.
Poisoning: first, do no harm
Poisoning
Poisoning is always about “what, how much, and when.” Stop the exposure. If the air is poisoned — gas, smoke, carbon monoxide — stopping the exposure means getting the person outside, and looking after yourself first: the same air will poison you too. Don't go far inside; open everything that opens, get them out, and call from outside.
Keep the package, the bottle, whatever is left — the doctors need to see them. Remember how much and when. Call 911 and do what the dispatcher tells you.
Don't induce vomiting: current guidelines advise against it at home. It's dangerous with caustic substances and petroleum products, and in a person with impaired consciousness, vomit goes into the airway. Call, name the substance, the amount, and the time, and follow the dispatcher's instructions. In the US, you can also call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222; if the person is unresponsive, having trouble breathing, or having a seizure, call 911.
And don't “neutralize” what they swallowed: no alkali for an acid, no acid for an alkali. Milk “to coat it” doesn't replace the call. Unresponsive and not breathing normally is cardiac arrest: call and start compressions.
Lesson notes
Poisoning
Poisoning is always about “what, how much, and when.” Stop the exposure. If the air is poisoned — gas, smoke, carbon monoxide — stopping the exposure means getting the person outside, and looking after yourself first: the same air will poison you too. Don't go far inside; open everything that opens, get them out, and call from outside.
Keep the package, the bottle, whatever is left — the doctors need to see them. Remember how much and when. Call 911 and do what the dispatcher tells you.
Don't induce vomiting: current guidelines advise against it at home. It's dangerous with caustic substances and petroleum products, and in a person with impaired consciousness, vomit goes into the airway. Call, name the substance, the amount, and the time, and follow the dispatcher's instructions. In the US, you can also call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222; if the person is unresponsive, having trouble breathing, or having a seizure, call 911.
And don't “neutralize” what they swallowed: no alkali for an acid, no acid for an alkali. Milk “to coat it” doesn't replace the call. Unresponsive and not breathing normally is cardiac arrest: call and start compressions.
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that develops within minutes. Signs: wheezing or trouble breathing, a rash or hives, clammy skin, feeling faint, belly pain, vomiting — soon after a sting, a food, or a medicine.
Call 911 right away and help the person use their own epinephrine auto-injector: the shot goes into the muscle of the outer thigh, and the dose is already set in their device. Lay them down; if they're struggling to breathe, let them sit up. Don't get someone whose blood pressure is dropping to their feet or walk them anywhere. If the signs persist, give a second dose after five minutes, preferably in the other leg.
The only auto-injector here is the casualty's own, the one prescribed to them. International guidelines tell laypeople plainly: use only the equipment and medicines you've been trained to use; and first-aid rules let you help a person take medicine prescribed to them.
They need to go to the hospital even if they feel much better after the shot. “It's eased off” is no reason to cancel the call.
What it looks like: a few minutes after taking a new medicine, your neighbor starts wheezing and breaks out in hives. You call, help her use her auto-injector on her thigh — and don't cancel the call when she feels better a minute later.