How to respond to laundry room accidents

Sometimes accidents just happen, no matter what you’ve done to prevent them. But safety is key in determining how to respond. It’s often best to follow the rules taught in many first aid classes.

1. Access the scene and victim: Look around and determine what happened before you go racing in and try to help or you may end up injuring yourself as well. Are machines turned off? What about electricity? Is it clear what happened to the victim? Is he or she lying in water? How seriously are they injured? Are they conscious, breathing or bleeding, or in shock?
2. Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number if it is a life-threatening condition. Above all, remain calm. Tell the dispatcher what happened, the condition of the victim, your exact location and other pertinent information.
3. Ask for help from bystanders. Get them to retrieve your First Aid Kit or AED, or to assist with CPR if the victim is unresponsive, unconscious and has no pulse. If you or a bystander are trained in first aid, remember the ABC’s:
   
   • Airway: If someone is not breathing, clear their airway.
   • Breathing: If you have cleared a person’s airway and they are still not breathing, provide rescue breathing. Rescue breathing is again recommended when possible and always for cardiac arrest following drowning.
   • Circulation: As you are doing rescue breathing, perform chest compressions to keep the victim’s blood circulating.

And most importantly, if an ambulance is on its way, send a bystander to the front entrance so they can quickly direct first responders to your exact location.

Provide aid to the victim(s). If victims are conscious and can move, help them up carefully. If they are unconscious or unable to move, don’t try to move them unless the scene is becoming unsafe. Then do so being careful not to twist or bend their body.

If chemicals were splashed on someone’s skin or in their eyes, rinse the area with plenty of water. If the product has been ingested, seek immediate medical help. Do not induce vomiting unless instructed to do so by a healthcare professional.

Naturally, the care you give will depend on the situation and injury. But no matter the situation, help the victim rest comfortably, keep him or her from getting chilled or overheated and reassure them until medical help arrives.

• Be prepared. Yes, this may be the Boy Scout’s motto, but it definitely pertains to keeping your employees safe in case of accidents or medical emergencies. If you don’t have a first aid kit, buy one or create one. Not sure what it should include? Click here and go to Pages 5 and 6. And if you have an existing kit, check it to make sure medications haven’t expired or items don’t need replenishing.
  
  It is also a good idea to provide regular first aid training through organizations like the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross so employees know what to do in case of burns, cuts and bleeding, allergic reactions, strokes and heart attacks, etc. Also, be aware of updates to recommended procedures, such as 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross Guidelines, just released Nov. 14.

All too often, people don’t think bad things will happen to them. But they can and will. More than 4.2 million people experience work-place injuries that are severe enough to require medical attention, according to the National Safety Council. And one person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So, take action and you may just save a life.