first-aid first’-aid’ (fûrst’ād’) adj.
n.
Emergency treatment administered to an injured or sick person before professional medical care is available.

First Aid Kits and Supplies include everything from Storage Cabinets and First Aid Kits to Refills on Pain Medications and Bandages. First Aid Kits and Supplies are necessary in every facility or warehouse, regardless of the type of product being produced. First Aid Signs, Labels and Tags are also available to remind employees of First Aid locations and procedures.

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Did you know that March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month? The Prevent Blindness America website reports that “more than 2,000 people injure their eyes at work each day”. Those are some scary statistics and what is even scarier is that “of the total amount of [eye] work-related injuries, 10-20 % will cause temporary or permanent vision loss”. We at Seton want to remind you about the importance of wearing proper eye protection and posting eye protection signs in your workplace. We want to help keep you and your employees safe and offer many safety signs to suits your individual facility needs. We have a large selection of OSHA Safety Signs to post in work areas, where eye wear is required. We also have various signs for posting near eyewash stations and first aid stations so employees can locate them quickly. Remember, work safe and stay safe not only in March, but all year long.

For more info on Workplace Eye Wellness Month please visit the Blindness America website for tips on how to prevent eye injuries the type of safety eye protection you should wear.

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Selecting an emergency eye wash or emergency shower equipment can be a complex process.  Where should you start?  The standard set by ANSI Z358.1 Emergency Eye Wash and Shower Equipment is the guideline to go by for properly selecting, installing and maintaining emergency equipment.  Guardian Equipment has created an easy to read ANSI Compliance Checklist to aide in understanding the provisions in the ANSI Z358.1 standard.  View Guardian Equipment’s detailed ANSI Z358.1 Compliance Checklist here.  You will come away with a much better understanding of how to select, install and maintain your unit.

Visit seton.com for our full selection of emergency eye washes and showers.

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The best time to prepare for a storm is before it hits.  The key to weathering any storm is preparation. Here are some suggestions to be prepared.

Image courtesy of chaseday.com

• If you lose electricity, unplug any sensitive items that might be damaged when the power suddenly comes back on.
• Put your refrigerator and freezer at the coldest settings in case you lose power. The colder food will last a little longer.
• Set aside water for drinking and washing.
• Fill up your vehicle gas tank in case you need to evacuate.
• Keep a battery powered radio handy. Make sure you have lots of extra batteries.
• Make sure you have flashlights and fresh batteries.
• Stock up on easy-to-prepare foods and be ready to cook outside if needed.

Seton offers a variety of products that will help you prepare for a storm at home or in the workplace including  flashlight stations, batteries and emergency survival kits.

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OSHA has published a Best Practices Guide, Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid-Program, to help any facility develop their own first aid program. In this guide, OSHA clearly summarizes the basic elements needed to develop a comprehensive plan. Those elements include:

• Identifying and assessing the workplace risks that have potential to cause worker injury or illness
• Designing and implementing a workplace first-aid program that:

Aims to minimize the outcome of accidents or exposures

Complies with OSHA requirements relating to first aid

Includes sufficient quantities of appropriate and readily accessible first-aid supplies and first-aid equipment, such as bandages and automated external defibrillators

• Assigns and trains first-aid providers who receive first-aid training suitable to the specific workplace & receive periodic refresher courses on first-aid skills and knowledge

• Instructing all workers about the first-aid program, including what workers should do if a coworker is injured or ill. Putting the policies and program in writing is recommended to implement this and other program elements
• Providing for scheduled evaluation and changing of the first-aid program to keep the program current and applicable to emerging risks in the workplace, including regular assessment of the adequacy of the first-aid training course

The guide also includes an outline of the essential elements of safe and effective first-aid training for the workplace as guidance to institutions teaching first-aid courses and to the consumers of these courses.

Download the complete Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid-Program, from OSHA’s website and start working on your workplace first aid program.

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Fear of the H1N1 virus appears to be the driving factor behind the adoption of preventive behaviors, according to a study published in the June issue of AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control. Researchers studying the public response during the recent H1N1 outbreak in Hong Kong came to the conclusion that fear about the pandemic prompted residents to frequently wash hands and wear face-masks. A team led by Joseph T.F. Lau, PhD, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, investigated the prevalence of self-reported preventive behaviors in response to the H1N1 epidemic in Hong Kong, including wearing face-masks regularly in public areas, wearing face-masks after the onset of influenza-like illness symptoms, and frequent hand-washing. Previous research shows that both frequent hand-washing and wearing face-masks can control the spread of influenza.

The study’s results showed that 47 percent washed hands more than 10 times per day, 89 percent wore face-masks when having influenza-like illness  and 21.5 percent wore face-masks regularly in public areas.

The authors note that pandemic outbreaks “have had a sustained impact on personal hygiene and protective behaviors. Our study showed that people with a higher level of mental distress due to A/H1N1 were more likely to adopt some of the three preventive measures.” They go on to say that emerging infectious diseases “provide a window of opportunity for health education to improve personal hygiene.”

According to the authors, these preventive behaviors can play an important role in controlling pandemic influenza, but they cautioned that there is a lack of data on their adoption by the public and see a need for more research.

Encourage better personal hygiene in your workplace.  Visit seton.com today for a wide selection of hand washing signs, face masks and hand sanitizers.

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Fun in the sun, by the pool, on a boat or at a barbeque can quickly send you to the emergency department on Memorial Day if you don’t plan ahead, the nation’s emergency physicians warns.

“We want people to have fun on Memorial Day weekend, which officially kicks off summer,” said Dr. Angela Gardner, ACEP. “But having fun also means staying safe, using good judgment and taking simple precautions that will help keep you out of the ER and most importantly, keep you alive.”

ACEP has put together the top five tips that you and your family should follow in order to stay safe and healthy over the holiday weekend…

Read the rest of the story here.

Seton offers a wide variety of first aid kits and supplies to keep you prepared for emergencies.

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There are a number of myths out there regarding the correct first aid treatments for common medical emergencies.  Newsweek asked two experts, Dr. Tom Scaletta, the president of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, and Denise King, president of the Emergency Nurses Association, to identify the 10 most common first aid mistakes—and what you should do instead.

Cut finger

• Don’t try to preserve the loose part by placing it directly on ice.

• Do wrap the severed part in damp gauze (saline would be ideal for wetting the cloth), place it in a watertight bag and place the bag on ice. Then be sure to bring the bag and ice to the emergency room. The patient will be going into surgery, so he’s best off with an empty stomach. As for the wound on the hand or body, apply ice to reduce swelling and cover it with a clean, dry cloth.

Knocked-out tooth

• Don’t scrub the tooth hard even if it’s dirty (a gentle rinse is OK).

• Do put the tooth in milk and go straight to the ER; there’s a chance the tooth could be reimplanted.

Burns

• Don’t apply ice or butter or any other type of grease to burns. Also, don’t cover a burn with a towel or blanket, because loose fibers might stick to the skin. When dealing with a serious burn, be careful not to break any blisters or pull off clothing stuck to the skin.

• Do wash and apply antibiotic ointment to mild burns. Head to the hospital for any burn that covers an area larger than your hand; and any burn that causes blisters or is followed by a fever.

Electrical burns

• Don’t fail to get medical attention for a jolt of electricity, even if no damage is evident. An electrical burn can cause invisible and serious injury deeper inside the body.

• Do go to the ER immediately.

Sprained ankle

• Don’t use a heating pad.

• Do treat a sprain with ice. Go to the ER if it is very painful to bear weight. You might have a fracture.

Nosebleed

• Don’t lean back. And after the bleeding has stopped, don’t blow your nose or bend over.

• Do sit upright and lean forward and pinch your nose steadily (just below the nasal bone) for five to 10 minutes. If the bleeding persists for 15 minutes (or if you think you are swallowing a lot of blood) go to the ER.

Bleeding

• Don’t use tourniquets. You could cause permanent tissue damage.

• Do apply steady pressure to the wound with a clean towel or gauze pack and wrap the wound securely. Go to the ER if the bleeding doesn’t stop, or if the wound is gaping or caused by an animal bite. To help prevent shock, keep the victim warm.

Ingestion of poison

• Don’t induce vomiting or use Ipecac syrup (unless instructed to do so by emergency personnel).

• Do call poison control, and bring the ingested substance with its container to the ER.

Being impaled

• Don’t remove the object; you could cause further damage or increase the risk of bleeding.

• Do stabilize the object, if possible, and go to the ER

Seizures

• Don’t put anything in the victim’s mouth.

• Do lay the victim on the ground if possible in an open space and roll the victim onto his or her side. Call 911.

To stock up on a wide selection of First Aid Kits and Supplies so you’re always prepared for any emergency, visit us at www.seton.com.

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With EMS Week just around the corner (May 16-22), the nation’s emergency physicians have launched a campaign called “Seconds Save Lives” to educate the public about what to do in an emergency.

ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) is distributing 75,000 free copies of the brochure “Seconds Save Lives” to emergency departments across the country.

The brochure includes safety tips as well as signs and symptoms of medical emergencies for adults and children.  It makes recommendations on when to call for help (EMS or 911) and what actions to take while waiting for help to arrive.

To download a free copy of the Seconds Save Lives brochure, visit emergencycareforyou.org.

Watch Dr. Alison Haddock talk about ACEP’s Second Save Lives campaign.

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The warm weather is upon us. As the temperatures rise and we spend more time outdoors in the sun and heat we should be thinking about the risks of sun and heat exposure. Overexposure to the sun can damage the skin and could cause skin cancer. Heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat rash are possible when overexerting yourself in the heat.

The National Safety Council has some great tips on how to prevent overexposure:

• Wear a wide-brimmed hat to keep your head and face cool. This will also provide added protection from damaging sun exposure. Baseball caps provide little protection except to the face. A hat should protect the neck, face and ears.
• Wear a long-sleeved shirt at all times. It should be light colored and loose fitting except when working around machinery.
• Carry a source of water with you. Take drinks frequently—every 15 minutes.
• Take frequent breaks in the shade or in a cool environment during the hottest times of the day.
• Adjust gradually to working in the heat over a period of 10-20 days.
• Someone suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke should be moved to a cool environment, offered sips of water, if conscious, and provided with attention from emergency medical personnel.
• Wear sunscreen that has an SPF of at least 15. Make sure children are also adequately protected.

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