To not know wtf to do if witnessing an acid attack?!

[Lwrenn]

Another day, another shit thread title, sorry.

Today I've made my Google history more grim than usual by finding out a bit more than I knew about acid attacks since the attack on the poor family just hit the news.
It occurred to me I know what to do if there is a shooting/stabbing or fire burn, but not large scale chemical burns and sadly it seems that the rates of acid being used to harm and disfigure people isn't slowing down.

I'd be happy for any medical professionals to point me into any more information but I found the main advice (I had planned to link it but my phone is being somewhat arsey with me) was to wash as much of the chemical away as possible, using water, milk or cola if that is all there is to hand.

I couldn't find if it's best to remove the victims clothes but I presume getting acid off of them would dictate removing their clothes, I've read stories that people have needed hair shaving instantly to stop the burning. (Not suggesting anyone starts stripping and shaving victims, I'm just hoping someone will have more answers!) So if you have information on that I'd appreciate it.

I'm hoping that buying corossive substances become more difficult, that acid attacks sentencing carries a life sentence and is tried as attempted murder, I'm hoping that there is going to be medical advice handed out by the government and NHS what to do if you're victim of or witness an attack.

I'm aware there is a go fund me set up for the family of this heinous, cowardly attack online, and I'll chuck into that what I can for the family, but I think now that this is such a terrible way forward for women to be abused, we do need as the public, more training in this.

Ideally, we'd just tell men to not acid attack us, but like we ask them to not hit us, rape us, murder us, doesn't always make a massive amount of difference.

Either way, it's one of the scariest most abhorrent, cowardly crimes and I hope nobody ever experiences it ever again, but equally, because they will, I hope we're taught what to do in this case.

The Time article linked above say this is the NHS advice:

1. First, dial 999 to get an ambulance.
2. Then try to carefully remove contaminated clothing by cutting it away.
3. Thirdly, rinse the affected area immediately using as much clean water as possible. Try to make sure the water can run off of the affected area without pooling on the skin and potentially spreading the acid to a wider area. Only use water and do not rub or wipe the area.

I hadn't considered making sure it ran off which is stupid as of course pooling would be an issue and actually don't wonder round with scissors on me.

However I'd be shouting for help so more hands to help and trying to source water and call 999 at same time - because 999 calls do take time though they need to be told as soon as possible.

What about cultural factors?

Yeah you didn't need to explain what you meant

There is a really good app called Citizen Aid. It gives a simple what to do and what to say to the emergency services in several emergency situations.

And? Any influence?

Maybe if you ignore the history of this crime and that some of its most high profile offenders since it's resurgence have been white

The history of the crime? Not in other cultures then?

It's got a long history in this country that pre-dates mass immigration. Yes some brown people are horrible too.

The Tories have since sought to tighten up access to various chemicals they deregulated so I don't know what you're really arguing against here, even they agree that letting anyone sell it to anyone wasn't a great idea

In the countries where it does happen they also have shitty lax rules about accessing these kinds of chemicals. It's an issue of practicality rather than culture

I'd lay the down and pour water. If you poured water onto their face while sitting up it would burn everywhere the water runs onto. But be mindful the acid will also have run down onto the body too.

Cold water into eyes is also extremely painful so you would have to stay calm an insist they keep their eyes open. I dealt with chemicals in eyes weekly as a school science tech. Luckily never bad, finger in acid, finger then on eye. We had Goggles attached to a tap.

You need to be fast. Do not rub the area. Slowly for longer I think is better than throwing it all in one go. But I really don't know.

You also need to be extremely careful you don't get injured to. You would need an extremely cool head. The pain and panic must be astronomical

Really? This seems culturally connected to me. Rejecting marriage proposals, daughters not sons

With about 200 acid attacks reportedannually, Pakistan has a reputation for being one of the deadliest countries for acid attacks. Most of the victims are women.

“Some of the reasons women have been subjected to acid attacks include rejecting marriage proposals, giving birth to daughters instead of sons, and not bringing enough dowry to their in-laws’ houses,” said Masarrat Misbah, a Pakistani philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the founder of theSmile Again Foundation, a national organization that provides medical care and covers educational and vocational training courses for acid attack survivors.

Yeah I get what you're saying but I'm just pointing out that in countries where things are readily and cheaply available then those things feature highly in crime.

Why our government thought it would be a good idea to put availability of corrosive substances on a par with countries like Pakistan just seens like a bad idea.

It's prevalence and history in this country have correlated with it's availablity to the public, it was last a popular crime in Victorian times but at some point the govt of the day thought they regulating these substances would be a good idea.

The current govt thought otherwise.

The current govt then "fixed" what they'd broken.

It’s clearly culturally aligned. To deny it is not correct

I looked up Pakistan as high there but it won’t just be there, but the reasons will be similar



I can't paste it, but Google Remove Remove Remove guidance.

Do brown people do it? Yes

Do white people do it? Yes

Did the government reverse it's decision to deregulate it? Yes

You seem a bit adverse to taking this on board

Some of the reasons women have been subjected to acid attacks include rejecting marriage proposals, giving birth to daughters instead of sons, and not bringing enough dowry to their in-laws’

Heat burns should be treated by running under clean cold water for no less than 10 minutes.

Chemical burns should be treated by running under clean water for a minimum of 20 minutes. Shower is ideal. If outside, get as much bottled water as you can and keep pouring.

Only remove clothes if safe to do so - both to yourself & the patient.

Just renewed my first aid qualification this week by somebody who had direct experience of treating a person who had been in contact with highly caustic chemicals.

Their advice was water, water, water, water. And if there's no water, any other fluid, as if it's an acidic drink, it's still less acidic than an acid spill/attack, it's going to slightly reduce the alkalinity of an alkaline spill/attack and it's getting as much of the substance off the person as possible either way. Not doing anything because 'I didn't want to make it worse' in the case of the few substances where water wouldn't help would mean that 98% would miss out on immediate treatment and sustain worse injuries in the first place whilst waiting for an ambulance - like when people don't perform CPR or maintain an airway because 'I didn't want to hurt them'.

Thanks everyone, I worried a bit posting this because I was scared I sounded thick not knowing but it's really not information that is to hand unless sought out. I appreciate the advice given.
I used to use caustic soda quite a bit day to day and it's stung me a few times but I've never used it in scarily undiluted quantity, but even the occasional wee splash has hurt, it never occurred to me that would be used in an attack, you can buy it any type of hardware place. How scary.

Ah that poor family and those wee girls, besides sending love and donating we can't do fuck all, but it feels very hopeless at times that monsters who would do this to women and children live among us. 💔

i just searched for caustic soda online, and it is literally used to dissolve bodies into liquid. You can also buy bottles of it for as low as £5. How it is so easily accessible baffles me

I’ve had awful burns requiring surgeries (accidental hot oil spill, not acid thankfully).

As well as the good advice above, I’d also think about the fact the patient is likely to go into shock and this can be dangerous in its own right.

The trauma and the amount of cold water being poured on me over quite a time made me shake uncontrollably - so warm blankets for unaffected areas and first aid treatment for shock if feasible.

It's also a common method of attack for gangs and drug turf wars.

And yes, call 999 first because you need the experts there asap.

Then do everything you can to dilute it, without getting splashed yourself. Water is best, but anything you can drink will be neutral enough and will still dilute the strong corrosive

It’s in a lot of household products- oven cleaner and drain cleaner are common ones.

it’s always been easily accessible.

I used to work with boiling HF which was nasty stuff where we carried specialist gel in case of exposure.

General advice is call 999, do not touch the person, as much water as possible for as long as possible, if they can remove their clothing esp. without taking it over their head then it's fine but you shouldn't do it. Tepid clean water is best if inside but any water available outside. If in an enclosed space ventilate or move to another room as some of these liquids can produce fumes.