Hop to it: Your Easter First Aid Guide

Easter is almost here, bringing with it chocolate eggs, family gatherings, and egg hunts in the garden. While it's a time for celebration and fun, it's also good to be prepared for those little mishaps that can happen when excitement takes over!

Here's our guide to common Easter injuries and mishaps and how to handle them like a first aid professional.

Chocolate choking hazards

We all love Easter chocolates, but sometimes enthusiasm gets the better of us (or our little ones)!

What to look for: Signs and symptoms will vary depending on the type of obstruction but look at for anything from gasping sounds and noising breathing to no sound of breathing at all.

First Aid Management:

• For a mild airway obstruction choking:

  • Encourage coughing

  • Continue check on them until recovery or deterioration

  • Send for help

• For severe airway obstruction where they are responsive:

  • Send for help

  • Give up to 5 back blows

    1. If not effective, give up to 5 chest thrusts

    2. Continue alternating between 5 back blows and 5 chest thrusts

    3. If the person becomes unresponsive, call 000 immediately and begin CPR

• For sever airway obstruction in infants:

  • Placed them in a head downwards position across your thigh and give 5 back blows and on their back across your thigh if you need to then give chest thrusts

Helpful safety tip: Cut up chocolate treats into smaller pieces for young children and remind everyone to sit down and eat slowly – the chocolate isn't going anywhere!

Egg Hunt Hazards

Bee Stings

Easter egg hunts can lead us into flowerbeds and bushes where bees might be buzzing around.

What to look for: Immediate and intense local pain and local redness and swelling.

First Aid Management:

• Remove the sting as quickly as possible without compressing the venom sac

• Apply a cold compress to reduce swelling

• Monitor for signs of severe allergic reaction

When to seek help from a medical professional: If there are signs of a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis like swelling of face or tongue, call 000 immediately and use an EpiPen if available.

Garden trips and falls

The excitement of spotting that perfectly hidden egg can lead to slips, trips, and falls... and nobody wants that.

What to look for: Pain, swelling, bruising and tenderness

First aid management for sprains:

• Remember RICER: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, Refer

  • Rest

  • Apply ice for 20 minutes

  • Apply compression bandage

  • Elevate the injury

  • Refer to a medical professional

Hot Cross kitchen burns

Easter baking can lead to burns from hot cross buns fresh out of the oven! Less yummy, more ouchy.

First Aid Management:

• Cool burns as soon as possible with cool running water for at least 20 minutes

• If possible, remove any jewellery or tight items near the burn area without causing further tissue damage

• Place a loose, non-stick dressing over the burn

• Don't apply ice, ice water, lotions, or ointments

Significant burns can include a burn greater than 10% of total body surface area.

Stay safe this Easter

Why not use this Easter as an opportunity to check your first aid kit is up to date? Is your first aid knowledge as fresh as those hot cross buns? If not, consider booking in for one of our engaging CPR or first aid courses in Adelaide where we make learning these essential skills both fun and effective.

Remember, the best Easter memories are safe ones!

From all of us at Engage First Aid, have a happy, chocolate-filled, and safe Easter celebration!

Want to learn more about how to handle common emergencies with confidence? Check out our range of first aid courses designed to be engaging, practical, and memorable!

Resources
Guideline 4 - Airway, ARC
Guideline 9.4.3 – Envenomation from Tick Bites and Bee, Wasp and Ant Stings, ARC
How to provide first aid for sprains and strains, St John WA