First aid for poisoning with acetic acid and the vapors

Poisoning with acetic acid refers to heavy and dangerous pathological diseases. The treatment is done in the hospital under the daily control of the condition of the victim. In this article we considered the symptoms and complications, mechanisms of poisoning by vinegar, as well as the basics of first aid and components of treatment.

The main ways of getting vinegar in the body

Vinegar is an acid of natural origin, it has a specific smell, transparent color. It can be found in every kitchen. It is used in preservation and preparation of many products. Also, the vinegar used in industry, developing medical and cosmetic products.

Poisoning vinegar can occur under the following circumstances:

1. In case of accidental or intentional ingestion of vinegar. Very often it can swallow children, mistaking him for a tasty beverage. Drink this acid and adults, in a suicide attempt. Vinegar can also have mentally ill people, not controlling their actions.
2. The poisoning of vinegar are available to staff of enterprises in which it is used. They can breathe in the event of non-compliance with safety rules.

What are the dangers of poisoning vinegar

Distinguish vinegar (it 70%), used in the industry, and acetic acid (7-9%). The vinegar solution is hazardous in any concentration. Poisoning vinegar essence or acid can lead to death and permanent health problems, disability.

Below are a list of what happens if you drink vinegar:

1. A burn of the mucous membrane of the esophagus and stomach.
2. Gastrointestinal bleeding that develops as a result of corrosion of the walls of the stomach and duodenum with acetic acid.
3. Acute kidney disease. Acute renal failure in cases of poisoning by vinegar develops very quickly. Acid affects the structure of the body.
4. Hemolysis (melting, splitting, and death) of red blood cells. Vinegar, soaked in blood through the mucous membrane of the stomach, leads to a very strong oxidation of the blood and destruction of red blood cells. Erythrocytes are red blood cells that carrying oxygen to all tissues of the human body.
5. Acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).
6. Acute liver failure.
7. Death.

For human lethal dosages are the following:

• 150-200 ml of 9% acetic acid;
• 20 ml of 70% acetic essence.

Please note that for the child to die need less vinegar. Poisoning vinegar is much more dangerous for the baby. In children it's absorbed quickly from the stomach into the blood, and leads to severe complications and consequences.

The main clinical manifestations of poisoning

The time interval from the reception of vinegar inside before the first symptoms are minor and will take 1-2 minutes. The severity and seriousness of the symptoms depends on the number and concentration of alcohol consumed acid. For example, if a person drank a few spoonfuls of this substance, poisoning to be limited to local minor manifestations, it will torment heartburn, and stomach pain. But taken orally in 100 ml acetic solution, the human condition will deteriorate immediately, and becomes critical.

The following table shows symptoms that may develop in cases of poisoning with vinegar:

First aid

Correctly provided first aid will help the victim to survive until the arrival of doctors. Parents would like to know what to do if a child accidentally drank vinegar. In the case of this poisoning, every minute is important.

If an adult or a child, drank the vinegar, the first thing to do is to call the ambulance. The sooner will come the doctors, and deliver the patient to the ICU, the more chance to survive.

Please note that when poisoning vinegar strictly forbidden to induce vomiting or to drink alkaline solutions to neutralize the acid. Vomiting vinegar to re-burn the esophagus. As a result of drinking soda, or other alkali, vinegar neutralized, but during a chemical reaction occurs generating a large amount of gas, which, like an explosion, breakthe stomach wall.

First aid in case of poisoning by acetic acid involves the following steps:

1. Get affected person to drink plain carbonated table water at room temperature. It will dilute the stomach content and the concentration of the consumed substance. But do not drink a lot in one gulp. It is very important to refrain from vomiting.
2. Put on the area of the stomach ice. The cold will slow the absorption acid in the blood with the stomach lining. You can give the patient to chew a few pieces of ice.

Action ambulance

First aid is the medical team that arrived on a call. If the person who was poisoned is conscious, he can tell them about what happened, and what its symptoms are concerned.

Before you will go with the patient to the hospital, the doctors washed his stomach through a tube. Cool lavage is performed with saline or boiled water.

Then the patient intravenously introduced drugs:

• Analgesic (Caver, Ketorolac), it is necessary to relieve severe pain.
• Antiemetic (Ositran, Reglan, Metoclopramid) is needed to prevent vomiting.
• Corticosteroids (Dexamethasone, Prednisone) are administered to prevent the development of shock.
• Solutions Disol, Trisol, are introduced intravenously on the way to the hospital. They make up for the lost liquid, remove the intoxication.

In the hospital the patient goes to the intensive care unit. Treatment can take a long time. When internal bleeding and severe burns of the mucous membranes, surgery.

Poisoning by acetic acid is a very dangerous condition that can lead to disability or death. The treatment is carried out in a hospital intensive care unit. Survival depends on timely called an ambulance and the correct actions of others until the arrival of doctors.