RELIEF AND REHABILITATION OF CYCLONE GAJA AT INDIA

Last year the Nagapattinam district  was affected by gaja cyclone . It was very disastrous and affected various parts of Tamil NAdhu . We had our awareness intervention at a village called Kameshwaram in Nagapattinam District . This is a fisherman hamlet . The community people  are mostly fisherman .Men’s go the sea to catch fishes and the women sell those fishes in the shore. Since it is a very illiterate area they have no idea about first aid . The women have no idea on how to tend the fishermen wounds. Since they don’t know how to give first aid many disasters have happened on and off  shore . When our chevalier roche society team went to give an awareness seminar about the first aid  . The people said they had no idea about first aid before hand.

So when our team went there first we gave a  seminar verbally on how to treat and tend and  give first aid initially .Then we showed them in action how it should be done . We showed them how to do CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation).

First if a patient has fainted they should be moved to a place with good aeration. All the surrounding people should be moved away from the patient. Then we showed them how to check the pulse of the patient . He must be laid in Supine position. Then the patient must be checked if they have any head injury . If  there is any sort of bleeding then we showed them how to slow down the bleeding temporarily. It was shown by wetting a cloth in water and tying it around the injured area .

Then we showed them how to do first aid for fracture .We must not  move the patient to avoid further injury . First bleeding must be stopped with a sterile bandage , a clean cloth or  a clean piece of clothing . Then try applying a splint to the area above and below the fracture sites. Padding the splints can help reduce discomfort .But care must be taken not to move or push the bone . Then ice packs can be applied to limit swelling and help relieve pain . Ice must not be applied directly to the skin . It must be wrapped in a towel . Then the person must be treated for shock . If the person feels faint or is breathing in short ,the person must be made to lay down  head slightly lower down the trunk and if possible elevate the legs.

We have given this awareness for  this fisherman community people , They felt so happy and relieved that they where able to get benefitted and attain knowledge about the first aid . And they requested us that they need more awareness camps like this from GlobalGiving and Chevalier roche society.