OK, but you could still just put a saline soaked dressing on, Mike. I agree
with Matt; not much point in going to the bother of steristrips unless it's
for definitive treatment.
Adrian
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bjarkoy" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2003 5:35 PM
Subject: Re: Steri-Strips
> Thought I would reinforce my original posting by adding that I am not
> suggesting that people are left at home after 'adhesive strips' are
applied.
> Sussex (my former service) had them for years and even if we applied them
to
> a wound, the majority of the time we were expected to take to A&E.
> I was fortunate enough to have informal training on a quite day on one of
my
> refresher courses in the A&E dept by a Nurse Practitioner. It was good fun
> and I was able to apply what I learnt in the field.
>
> The times when I used them in the Sussex Ambulance Service to great effect
> were on skin flap injuries.
>
> I used saline to clean the wound, inspected for underlying tissue damage
and
> solid debris and then applied the strips. A dressing was placed over the
top
> and then the patient was taken to A&E. The benefit of the adhesive strips
is
> to start the healing process at an early stage. Most wounds dry up very
> quickly if a dry dressing is applied direct onto the open wound and
overall
> healing time may be extended as a result. Skin flap wounds benefited the
> most from pre-hospital skin closures. Those patients I followed up on
where
> definitve treatment was in the field did not suffer from ulceration as
much
> as those who were just covered and left in A&E for an hour or so prior to
> treatment - observation only.
>
> Just so you know where I am coming from. I never considered treat and
> release when I posted this.
> Mike Bjarkoy
>
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