At 6:49 a.m. on June 24, the Xue Peng emergency team of the Dadong Second Branch of the Shenyang Emergency Center received an order from the 120 command center that an elderly woman in the jurisdiction had swollen and painful eyes when she got up in the morning at home and needed emergency transport. The emergency team rushed to the patient's home. After arriving at the scene, the emergency personnel learned that the patient had a history of glaucoma in the past, and became ill after getting up this morning, with swollen and painful eyes, headache, and vomiting. After the emergency personnel complete the relevant examination and treatment of the patient, the patient will be safely sent to the hospital for further treatment.
Glaucoma is a serious eye condition that, if flare-up, can lead to rapid vision loss or even blindness. In such an emergency, it is crucial to call 120 in time to get to the hospital in time and take the right first aid measures. Here, the first responder will give you a brief introduction to the relevant knowledge of an acute attack of glaucoma:
1. Symptoms of acute attack of glaucoma
In an acute attack of glaucoma, patients usually experience severe eye pain accompanied by headache, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms. Vision will deteriorate dramatically, and vision will become blurry, and you can only see the hand or light perception in front of your eyes. The eyes may be red, bloodshot, with increased intraocular pressure and stone-hard eyeballs.
2. Precautions when dialing 120
1. Stay calm and clearly explain the patient's symptoms to the dispatcher, including eye pain, vision changes, headache, nausea and vomiting.
2. Inform the dispatcher of the patient's age, gender, past medical history (especially glaucoma), and medications being used.
3. Provide an accurate location of the incident so that 120 first responders can find it quickly.
3. First aid measures during the waiting period of 120
1. Keep the patient quiet, avoid emotional agitation and strenuous exercise, and minimize head movements.
2. The patient can be placed in a semi-recumbent or sitting position with the head elevated by about 30 degrees to lower the intraocular pressure.
3. Do not massage your eyes by yourself to avoid aggravating the condition.
Fourth, daily prevention
1. Avoid smoking, because smoke irritates the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and easily leads to coughing, which can cause intraocular pressure to rise and induce glaucoma.
2. Avoid ingesting alcohol, strong tea, coffee and other drinks that have an excitatory effect on the sympathetic nerve, because the pupil dilates after the sympathetic nerve is excited, and the circulation of aqueous humor is blocked, which can lead to an increase in intraocular pressure.
3. It is not advisable to work with the head bowed for a long time to avoid the increase in intraocular pressure caused by the obstruction of jugular venous reflux, resulting in aqueous humor circulation disorders.
4. Do not read books or watch TV for too long in a dark environment, because the pupils are dilated in the dark, which can narrow the angle of the room, block the outflow of aqueous humor, and cause the intraocular pressure to rise.
An acute attack of glaucoma is an emergency that cannot be ignored and requires a timely call on 120 and proper first aid measures and the patient being quickly taken to the hospital's eye emergency department for further treatment.
Author: Xue Peng
Source: Shenyang Emergency Center
Editor: Sheng Wenbo
Proofreading: Sun Ping, Chen Zeming
Preliminary review: Jin Bo
Review: Xu Jiang