The Apple iPhone has been on the tip of tech-savvy tongues for awhile now. If you don’t have an iPhone, chances are you wouldn’t mind having one. The features aren’t endless but close enough and now the American Heart Association (AHA) has jumped on the bandwagon.

The AHA created its first application for the Apple iPhone: Pocket First Aid & CPR. This new application allows users to review first aid procedures regardless of whether or not they’re in cell-phone range. The AHA application is available for download at the Apple iTunes Store for only $3.99.

Featured in the first aid and CPR application are hundreds of illustrated pages covering topics such as CPR, choking, bites, bruises, burns, seizures and diabetic emergencies. If page browsing isn’t for you don’t fret – twenty detailed videos are also part of the application entailing how to respond to critical first aid situations and instructions on handling choking, CPR, seizures, cuts and wounds.

If that weren’t enough the application features an additional component where users may store their family’s medical information including emergency and doctors’ contact information, allergies, medications and insurance information. How’s that for immediate patient background answers?

For more information visit: www.americanheart.org/cprmobile

Source: Jems.com

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Earlier this week off-duty Milwaukee firefighters Joel and John Rechlitz, off-duty police Lt. Mark Wroblewski and neighbors worked together to save a mother and her two children from their burning SUV.

The SUV had slammed into a tree and burst into flames. The 32-year-old mother, Angela Baldessari, was able to pass her two-year-old daughter, Beverly Harper, through the top of the SUV. She then escaped through the windshield after it was smashed open. However, David ‘DJ’ Harper, only four-years-old, was still trapped in his car seat.

John, who usually carries a pocketknife with him, did not have one at the time of the accident. Luckily, a local came through with a pocket knife. After cutting the seat belt restraints from the boy’s body the brothers were able to save him, suffering burns to their hands and forearms.

“If that person didn’t come forth with that pocket knife, things would have been different. If that lady didn’t come through with the garden hose, the burns sustained to that child would have been much more severe,” Joel Rechlitz of the Milwaukee Fire Department said.

“Officer Wroblewski, with bringing the fire extinguishers, gave us five to then seconds, and five to ten seconds made the difference between this boy living and dying,” Rechlitz added.

DJ had burns, many considered third-degree, over 20 percent of his body covering most of his scalp, upper back and upper extremities and less severe burns on his face. As of Tuesday he was in “serious condition but stable” at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

A time ago it was very common to have average citizens carry pocketknives but not so much today. Luckily on the day of this horrible accident someone was carrying a pocketknife. No one ever expects to be put in one of these situations but there are some inexpensive rescue tools that wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider having on you or accessible in your car such as a seatbelt cutter, window punch, or a lifesaver hammer.

With today’s technology quite a bit of the dramatic rescue was caught on film. It’s chilling and heartbreaking to watch.

Source: foxnews.com, sky.com, wbay.com, youtube.com

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Unless you live under a rock there’s no doubt you know Michael Jackson passed away on June 25, 2009. Also hard to avoid is the fact that prescription medications, including propofol, were found at his home.

Propofol is the country’s most widely used drug to induce general anesthesia as well as for other types of health provider based sedation. It depresses breathing and heart rate and lowers blood pressure.

Two years ago the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was petitioned to make propofol a scheduled drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The brand name version is called Diprivan.

Adding a drug to the federal list of controlled substances is obviously not an overnight process. The DEA seeks recommendations from Department of Health and Human Services officials as part of the review. HHS can keep the motion going or stop it in its tracks. Congress can also step in and add specific drugs to the list via legislation.

Prior to Jackson’s death propofol was seen as having potential for abuse by medical staff since it is generally administered in a hospital setting. However, the Food and Drug Administration has recently received an increasing number of fatality reports linked to propofol. Today, it’s suspected that when it’s abused it’s usually by people seeking sleep, as in Jackson’s case.

Should propofol be considered a controlled substance?

Source: Yahoo! News

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Saving someone’s life is part of your job but as a first responder have you ever wondered what the aftermath is like for an extensive, severe burn victim? Time consuming, painful treatment, including surgeries and skin grafts, as well as the psychological trauma may make you wonder if you did the right thing.

Every year the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors sponsors the World Burn Congress (WBC) giving first responders the opportunity to meet, interact and bond with burn survivors. This year’s meeting will be held August 26 – 29, 2009 at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in Manhattan’s Midtown.

The WBC provides first responders and burn survivors a chance to connect and find the closure that’s often missing from first responder/patient encounters.

“We see people at their worst and then never see them again,” said FDNY firefighter and president of the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation Bill Leahy. “It is an eye-opening experience to see what people can overcome.”

The WBC also offers first responders the chance to learn about the latest developments in burn prevention and burn treatment. It also provides resources for survivors, rescuers and their families on coping with loss and adaption.

Emotional and inspiring the positivity shown here can not only be humbling but life changing.

Source: Jems.com, Phoenix-Society.org

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Fire safety is a broad category. Did you know that in a typical year more U.S. fires are reported on July 4th than on any other day, and that fireworks are the cause for more than half those fires? With our nation’s 233rd birthday right around the corner and fireworks already in full swing let’s take a look at some facts:

How are these injuries happening? Bottle rockets can fly into peoples’ faces and cause eye injuries. The tip of a sparkle burns at a temperature of more than 1200 degrees, hot enough to cause third degree burns and ignite clothing. Firecrackers can injure the hands or face if they explode at close range. It comes down to being too close, lack of coordination, curiosity, and experimentation. It can be all these things combined or just one of them but all it takes is a misguided or faulty firework and you can have problems.

With the exception of your pets, who may be a little freaked out by the sound of fireworks, play it safe and leave the fireworks demonstrations to the professionals. Instead, maybe give your kids some light sticks, light shapes or snaplights. They can be just as fun and they last longer.

Fireworks Safety Poster

Source: usfa.dhs.gov

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