Chest Injury

Chest injuries can be caused in a variety of different situations such as vehicle entrapment, falling debris, industrial accident, mining accidents and cave-ins.

Signs and symptoms

  • Possible blood loss, internal or external

  • Anxiety / restlessness

  • Rapid pulse / shock

Rib injury:

  • Trouble breathing

  • Shallow breathing, short, rapid, gasping

  • Tenderness at site of injury

  • Deformity & bruising of chest

  • Pain upon movement/deep breathing/coughing

  • Decreased chest movement

  • Dusky or blue lips or nail beds

  • May cough up blood

  • Crackling feeling upon touching casualty’s skin (like "rice bubbles")

First aid

  • Call an ambulance immediately, the casualty can deteriorate very quickly

  • Keep the casualty sitting upright, lean the injured side down

  • Conduct a verbal secondary survey i.e. Ask the casualty about their pain

  • Do not remove any embedded objects, pad around the object to control bleeding

  • Cover any wounds with a dressing

  • Escaping air wound – place a ‘flutter valve’ over wound

  • Get some sort of plastic that is bigger than the wound

  • Tape the plastic patch over the wound on only 3 sides. The 4th side is left open, allowing blood to drain and air to escape. This opening should be at the bottom (as determined by the casualty’s position)

  • When the casualty inhales, the bag will be sucked in, but when the casualty exhales, the air will exit through the un-taped side

  • If a flail segment is suspected, tightly secure a bulky dressing (such as a tightly folded hand towel) to help stabilise the injury

  • Treat for shock as required and monitor carefully until help arrives

Meirav Dulberg