First aid treatments for chemical burns

Chemical burns are not uncommon in the home, at school and workplace. Knowing how to treat such burns effectively and quickly is the key to minimizing damage to the patient. The following methods are generally accepted as the correct treatment in an emergency involving chemical spills.

Although most people who suffer chemical burns do not need to be admitted to hospital there are exceptions. If a patient is suffering any of the following symptoms the emergency services should be called immediately. Lay the person down and continue first aid until help arrives.



Shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness if the injury is severe.

Less severe symptoms of chemical burns include irritation and redness of the skin, pain or numbness in the affected area, headaches and coughing. The coughing may be the onset of more severe trauma and should be watched carefully whilst treating the patient. If the chemical has affected the eyes the patient may experience loss of vision.

The first action should be to get the patient and yourself away from the area of the spill. Reassure the victim and try to keep them calm.

As quickly as possible, taking care not to make contact with the chemical, remove any clothing around the affected area.

Flush the affected area with copious amounts of tepid water. During the process it is important to ensure that none of the water runs off onto other, unaffected parts of the body. Continue cleaning the burn in this manner for at least 20 minutes.

Any collections of solid matter can be gently removed by brushing them away. If they do not readily fall away from the affected area do not continue attempts to remove them. Seek medical advice.

Washing chemicals from the eye can be difficult but the water method is the most effective. If possible, standing the patient under a running showerhead is the simplest way to rinse the eyes. An eyebath repeatedly filled and applied is also useful. Standing at a sink and repeatedly flushing the eyes by hand is the alternative if none of the above are viable options in a given situation.

Once thoroughly rinsed, wounds can be bandaged and it is advisable to seek the advice of your family doctor as soon as you can. A professional assessment will prevent any underlying problems or points missed during initial treatment from developing into later problems.

In severe cases where hospital treatment is required the treatment is very similar but is likely to include the intravenous delivery of drugs and fluids to stabilize the patient. Antibiotics are also likely to be given. Antibiotics may also be needed in less severe cases and the family doctor will give advice on this.

First aid treatment for closed wounds

When considering a wound, there are many types of it and some of the wounds are likely to occur underneath the skin with an intact overlying skin. These wounds which does not expose to the outside environment, but are present underneath the skin is known as ‘closed wounds’ as opposed to the ‘open wounds’ that will expose the underlying soft tissues and sometimes bones to the external environment. In such instances, the damage done to the soft tissues as well as the blood vessels will go unnoticed and at times if enough vigilance is not paid, undiagnosed as well.



In most instances, closed wounds will be the result of blunt trauma such as a ‘seat belt injury’ during a car accident, assault by a stick or else using any other blunt object or even by a blow during a boxing fight…etc. Such high intensity impact will give rise to a bursting of the blood vessels underneath that portion of the skin and due to the pressure being distributed to a wider area than in a sharp injury; the overlying skin would be kept intact, although it might sustain bruises. But, there will be certain characteristics that can be seen in a site with a closed wound and some of these would be,

*Discoloration of the overlying skin : At times, the skin would initially become bluish in color and will later turn much lighter into a yellowish green area. Gradually the color will become normal and the underlying mechanism for this color change would be the bleeding that occurs underneath the skin which forms a hematoma. Due to bodies mechanism of re-absorbing the blood, such clots will gradually recede and will disappear totally.

*Pain : Usually, a close wound will be painful and it may be due to the underlying soft tissue damage as well as the stretching that occurs due to the hematoma formation.

*Swelling : Due to bleeding and other extravasations takes place in to a enclosed space, there is a tendency to develop a swelling at the wound site.

When considering these signs, it is evident that a person who provides first aid could only do very few, when it comes to a closed wound. As the overlying skin is intact, it is unlikely that the trauma exerted over the site would be enough to cause a life threatening injury, but, taking chances would not be the best idea when you can’t see the wound.

Thus, following measures need to be taken in giving first aid to a victim of a closed wound.

*Application of direct pressure, preferably with ice wrapped in a cloth, for several minutes, in order to arrest the bleeding as well as to reduce the swelling. Two mechanisms will act on providing this support and the coldness of the ice making the blood vessels constrict as well as the pressure occluding damaged blood vessels as well as soft tissues are the two main mechanisms.

*Elevation of the affected region will also support in reducing the pressure as well as the re-absorption process and it should be practiced as and when appropriate.

Apart from these measures, if the victim is not alert, basic life support measures may need to be adopted in few instances.