Kitchen First Aid

Kitchens are dangerous places. Knives, Oil and Water are more obvious dangers, but don’t forget that you’ve got water and electric very close together in most kitchens (look at your kettle!).

This shouldn’t put you off of cooking with children, or at all yourself, but you do need to be prepared in case of accidents and emergencies.

Cuts

Simple precautions can help protect yourself against cuts. Pay proper attention, use decent quality knives which are kept sharp (a sharp knife will cut smoothly, whereas a blunter knife will rip and tear more, making it more likely to slip and cut), and have a thick, heavy duty chopping board – I’d recommend using a Wooden one, as these are less likely to slip.

A first aid kit of anti-septic wipes, plus various sized blue plasters will be needed. These plasters are very good for this purpose – they’ll show up if you drop them in anything.

Burns

All burns should be treated in a similar way. If the skin has not broken, run it under the cold water tap for 15 minutes. After this, apply an aloe-based salve – I have an aloe vera plant in my kitchen. It’s very easy to look after, and very useful, and smells beautiful.

Any severe burns should mean an immediate trip to the hospital – for example, if you’ve accidentally leant on a hot hob-plate, or tried to remove a wire draw from an oven.

Electocution

This is one of the most dangerous incidents that could happen in your kitchen. Most homes have a washing machine, fridge, kettle, microwave, and sink in their kitchen, as well as a large amount of power points.

It’s very dangerous because if you haven’t paid proper attention, you too could become a victim whilst going to help the original sufferer.

Call for Emergency Medical help. Don’t touch the person until the power is shut off – not just at the mains. Look for the circuit breaker or fuse box and completely remove the current. If you cannot do this, completely dry your hands, and using something non-metallic (i.e., a wooden chopping board, stick, rope, brush, etc.) get the person away from the source of electricity.

From now on, treat the person as you would any other casulty.

There’s many other in-depth articles about how to make your kitchen a safer place, as well as the position of food in fridges to make sure that there’s no contamination or food poisoning.