Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
• Making it easier to apply an effective splint
If you do choose to align a fracture (“set” or “reduce” the fracture), you must apply tension
to the fractured limb both while the splint is applied and while in the splint. Without tension,
muscle contractions may cause the fractured bone sections to pull beside each other, resulting
in further injury due to the cutting of internal tissues on sharp bone fragments.
General Guidelines for Treating Dislocations and Fractures
1. Check the victim's ABCs.
2. Keep the victim still. Movement of fractured limbs could turn a closed fracture into a compound
fractureorcausedamagetointernaltissues.
Do not move the limb or attempt to “set” the fracture.
Movement may cause severe tissue damage from razor-sharp edges of fractured bones.
3. If there is an open fracture, or you suspect there may be a fracture below an open wound, take
extreme precautions against infection and contamination. Do not wash the wound, but cover the
wound with sterile dressings and immobilize the limb.
Do not breathe on, or probe, the open
wound.
Do not try to set the limb (unless you have no access to emergency medical services in
the near future).
4. Splint or sling the affected area in the position you found it. Include at least the joint above and
below the injury when immobilizing the injured area. Splint the break with some kind of firm
material, such as boards, tree branches, ski poles, broomsticks, umbrellas, and so on. If rigid ma-
terials are unavailable, you can use rolled-up newspapers or rolled towels, or you can tape or tie a
limb to the body or another limb (that is, strap the broken leg to the good leg). Pad the splint with
some kind of soft cushioning material such as towels, moss, or rags between the victim's flesh
and the hard splints. Tie the splint in at least two places above and two places below the injury,
but not directly on top of the injury.
Always treat wounds before splinting
.
5. Treat for shock. Lay the victim flat, elevating the feet and keeping the head down,
unless you sus-
pect a head, back, or neck injury.
6. Call EMS.
Figure 5-12. Ankle splint.
