Module
Chest & Abdominal Injuries
Chest injury signs
- Breathing difficulty
- Chest pain
- Visible wounds, bruising
- Tenderness, instability, crepitus
- Asymmetric chest movement
- Coughing blood
- Cyanosis (blue face)
Rib fracture
Sharp pain on breathing or coughing. Position: semi-sitting, leaning to the INJURED side. Sling on the injured side.
Open chest wound — CRITICAL RULE
Air bubbles out and gets sucked in with each breath. DO NOT seal the wound airtight. Sealing creates a tension pneumothorax. Cover lightly with gauze and stop external bleeding only.
Closed pneumothorax
Air collects in the chest cavity from a broken rib piercing the lung — life-threatening. Call 112 immediately, semi-sitting, monitor.
Lung contusion
Blunt force transmitted through chest wall. Common in belly-flops from height, water-ski/jet-ski ejections, white-water impacts.
Cardiac contusion
Blunt impact to the sternum. Chest pain, breathing difficulty, bruising. Cardiac muscle damage → arrhythmia or cardiac arrest possible.
Abdominal injury signs
- Visible wounds in abdomen
- Pain on palpation
- Guarding (tense abdominal muscles)
- Internal bleeding signs, pallor
Abdominal injury care
- VODDO, call 112
- Position: lying with knees bent and head slightly elevated (CAUTION if spine injury possible)
- Open wound → sterile gauze, moisten with saline
- Eviscerated organs → DO NOT push back. Cover with moist sterile gauze.
- Impaled objects → DO NOT remove. Stabilise.
- No food or drink
- Cover with metallic foil for warmth
- SAMPLE