The New First-Aid Rules

Why you shouldn't soak a splinter, and other ways immediate care has changed

- Stacey Colino

When it comes to treating injuries, the strategies our parents used may no longer be the right things to do. In some cases, folk tales have been debunked; in others, doctors have found better treatments. "As we learn new things from science, the guidelines change-and that's happening with first aid. We now have better evidence of what works," says Dr Sean McGann, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians and a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

If your first-aid techniques aren't on target, you could end up exacerbating an injury. In a study published in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care, 654 adults took a multiple-choice test on recommended first-aid skills and not one person answered every question correctly. In addition, only half of the adults were familiar with 60 per cent of the questions. It shouldn't be that way. To make sure you're up to speed on the latest in first aid, here are some dos and don'ts for various situations.

You burnt yourself

Place the burnt area under cool running water for at least 20 minutes to calm the pain and stop damage to the skin. "A lot of people don't realize the thermal damage is continuing even after they're no longer in contact with the source of the burn," says Dr Matt Wilson, associate chair of emergency medicine at MedStar Washington Hospital. "Cooling that area immediately is the key to limiting the damage."

A 2020 study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that treating burns with cool running water for 20 minutes was associated with a decreased depth to the burn and significantly lower odds of needing a skin graft to repair the damaged skin. (If you aren't near a source of clean water, use a cold compress, such as ice wrapped in a towel.)