How to Treat a Broken Leg

[Nemesis]

How to Treat a Broken Leg

Broken legs can range from simply painful injuries to life-threatening emergencies. You must recognize a broken leg to decide how to respond to it.

A leg broken above the knee could mean permanently crippled or danger to the pelvis area maybe causing death.

Signs and symptoms of a broken leg:

• pain (almost always present)
• swelling
• bruising
• deformity (leg appears out-of-place)
• numbness or tingling
• broken skin with bone visible
• limited mobility of the leg

Treating the broken leg:

1. check the ABC steps:

A = Awake.

If the victim is not awake then rub your knuckles on the centre of their chest while shouting at them to wake up.

B= Breathing.

If the person is not breathing then perform CPR by pushing on the middle of their chest, right between the nipples – push hard and fast – 2 inches deep and at least 100 times per minute. Some people may seem like there breathing but they might not be so perform CPR as told above.

C = Continue Care.

• If the victim is face down and unconscious, roll him/her on their back, face up.
• If the victim has fluid, blood, vomit or food in his mouth, roll them on their side with their arm under their head.
• Stop any bleeding by applying pressure on to the open wound.
• If the victim stops breath then start CPR again.
Broken legs are rarely life threatening and seem to be worse then what they actually are.

2. Control Bleeding:

Use sterile water to clean out the wound by pouring it directly on to it. You could use a saline solution which is 1 gallon of distilled/boiled water for every 8 teaspoons of table salt. Make sure the solution is mixed well. Storing it airtight jars will only allow them to last for 5 days before becoming useless.

The next step in controlling a bleeding wound is to plug up the whole. Blood needs to clot (stick together) in order to start the healing process and stop the bleeding. If blood is flowing then the open wound can not clot and heal.

The best way to stop bleeding is to apply direct pressure on to the open wound. Gauze dressing works best because it promotes the blood to stick and start to clot, starting the healing process. The next best thing will be terrycloth towels. If you don’t have either then just use a plain cloth like a tea towel or a bath towel.

If the blood soaks through the cloth then apply another cloth on top, or if using a bath towel then double it over. Never take a cloth that's been applied to a bleeding wound just because blood has soaked through, in doing so you ruin the clotting (sticking) process and it will have to start all over.

3. Look for other injuries.

Do this with moving the victim as little as possible. If the victim shows signs of injury to the head, neck or back do not move him/her.

Splinting the Leg.

4. If waiting for help then get the victim to remain still and just wait. If help can’t get to you then the leg will have to be splinted. To splint the leg you must make sure that the knee, ankle and hip joints are all immobilized.

Splint the leg above and below the break and do not wrap the leg too tightly.

Reduce Swelling.

5. After that take person back to camp. Now put ice or something very cold to reduce swelling, put a thin cloth between the “cold item” and bare skin of the victim as to prevent frostbite. Leave “cold item” on for 15 minutes then take it of for 15 minutes and keep repeating for a while.

Elevate the leg.

6. If possible elevate the leg so it is above the level of the heart, gravity works here by helping to reduce swelling and speeding the process of it.

Reduce chance of shock.

7. Lay the victim on their back to reduce chance of shock and cover them with a blanket to stop them from freezing.

Tips:

1. Remember not to move the victim if you suspect they have an injured neck, back or head unless you need to.

2. Do not straighten a broken leg or change its position unless the victim’s foot (broken leg foot) is cold, blue, numb or paralyzed. Only attempt to move a broken leg to an anatomical position. (natural/lazy position)

3. For splinting the leg you could use a broom handle, long wooden spoon, tube from a vacuum cleaner or even a jack handle from a car. As long as its straight and strong its ok to use.