Everybody should know dog bite treatment, especially the first aid steps, as dog bite incidents are very dangerous and commonplace. Whenever a person is planning to have a dog, he or she should make sure that the dog is vaccinated with anti-rabies, because when a dog bites, grave consequences may arise especially if the dog does not have the proper vaccinations. A dog bite can cause harm to the human body. Once a dog has bitten a person and its teeth have penetrated the skin, then immediate dog bite treatment as well as proper consultation with the doctor should be done to prevent untoward effects and complications from happening. The risk of being bitten by a dog is higher when the person has a dog in the house because there is more exposure to the animal compared to the individualwho does not live with a dog at home. Moreover, men are more prone to be bitten by dogs than women. But children have the most cases of deaths due to dog bites.
What are the effects of a Dog bite to the Human body?
A dog bite can transmit Rabies to the person’s body. Rabies is a viral infection transmitted by animals to humans through bites. Animals like cats and bats can transfer rabies to human beings; but dogs are the most common rabid animals in the world. The saliva of a rabid dog would enter the body via the break in the skin caused by the bite. The rabies would then travel in the blood going to the brain and other major parts of the body.
A person may be suspected of having rabies if he or she is experiences fever, headache and pain, hallucination and convulsion days after the incident of a bite. The person would experience hydrophobia and aerophobia because of the intense pain caused by the rabies. The pain is so severe that it makes the person feareven the touch of water or air. In worst cases, paralysis in ascending form may occur.
What to do when bitten by a dog
When a person is bitten by a dog, the first thing to do is to stay calm and focused. Having a calm disposition will allow you to think clearly and find ways to help the person in need. Or if you are the victim, it can help you concentrate on the dog bite treatments that you can administer to yourself.
Follow these first aid steps for dog bite treatment.
- Get the victim away from the dog to prevent further danger that the dog may inflict on the victim as well as the rescuer. Place the victim in a safe place to administer dog bite treatment.
- If there is bleeding, you should get a clean cloth and place it directly on the site bitten, exerting direct pressure on the area where there is bleeding.The pressure applied to the bleeding area will help control bleeding and prevent further blood loss.
- When the bleeding had been controlled, elevate the bitten area above the level of the heart.
- Wash the bitten region with running water and soap to clean and get rid of the dog’s saliva which can bring more problems to the victim.
- After properly washing the injured site, a sterile gauze or bandage must beapplied to the area to protect it from foreign invaders that can penetrate the cut in the skin, thereby causing more concerns such as infections.
- After doing the first aid, you should bring the victim to the doctor for check-up.
- You should alsoreport the incident to the people responsible for animal control. The animal control authorities would then trace and find the dog that bit you and subject it to rabies examination. Observation of the dog will be done for 10 to 14 days if there are behavioral or physical changes happening.
Dog bite treatment administered by health care providers
When the victim is brought to the hospital for proper examination and dog bite treatment, the nurse would do a thorough physical assessment and history taking of the victim to establish a baseline data. One of the dog bite treatments done by the doctor is the cleansing of the bitten area with saline solution and getting rid of the tissues that had been damaged. The doctor will usually prescribe antibiotic medications as part of the dog bite treatmentregime to prevent possible infection. The victim can choose if he or she wants to have the wound closed or left open to heal. Vaccinations such as a tetanus shot is given to prevent complications brought by the dog bite. Rabies immune globulin and vaccines arealso given if the dog that bit the victim has uncertain or no vaccinations at all, or if the dog is not found for observation.
Dog bite treatment is a life saving measure for the victim especially if the dog has rabies. There are also preventive measures to avoid getting rabies from a dog bite such as anti-rabies vaccination for the dog. Early prevention should be observed to avert rabies.
