Warning after child suffers horrific burn from everyday item
When it comes to using hand sanitiser, most of us don’t think twice and squeeze a little on our palms.
Almost every place has hand santiser handy, but this has renewed calls to parents to keep an eye out for it around their children.
Paramedic and mum-of-two Nikki took to Instagram to show the dangers of children misusing hand-sanitiser.
She shared an image of a young boy named James to the Tiny Hearts Education page, who suffered a horrific chemical burn in his eye after using a foot pump hand sanitiser dispenser.
“It took days for James to be able to open his eyes and several weeks to get the all-clear of no long-term damage,” Nikki wrote.
Exposure of the chemicals in hand-sanitiser to the eye can cause minor injuries or even “complete blindness”.
“These kinda accidents can occur from a whole range of chemicals. It could be acidic agents such as bleach, window cleaner, vinegar and pool chemicals, or alkali agents such as fertilisers, drain cleaners, sparklers, plaster and cement - but the list is endless!”
The passionate mother warned parents in similar incidents to irrigate the area first, listing how to do so, before rushing to the emergency department.
“Irrigating the eye is so important as we aim to flush out as much of the chemical as possible. It is best done with Normal Saline but when this is not available running water will do the trick.”
She suggested wrapping the child “like a burrito to help keep them still”, while assisting older children over the sink.
Slightly warm water should be run over the eyes as the child blinks repeatedly to help flush out the chemical. This should be done for at least 15 minutes.
Nikki also warned of contacts to be removed before any process.
“P.S Also a reminder - PLEASE do not let little ones use foot pump hand sanitiser dispensers!!”
Image: Instagram