Minor wounds and preventing infection

After a disaster, infections in small wounds are common and dangerous, especially if there was contact with floodwater.

1. Wash your hands and put on gloves.
2. Stop the bleeding with pressure.
3. Wash the wound with clean water (drinkable, or boiled and cooled) and wash around it with soap. Irrigate with plenty of water to flush out dirt; a syringe without a needle or a bag with a small hole works to provide pressure. Remove surface splinters with clean tweezers.
4. Apply a thin layer of over-the-counter antibiotic ointment (per the label) and cover with a clean dressing.
5. Change the dressing daily or when it gets wet or dirty.

Seek medical care if the wound is deep, its edges separate, it is on the face or a joint, it was a bite (human or animal), it is very dirty or contaminated, or has an object embedded in it (do not pull it out; immobilize it with gauze around it). Tetanus: according to the CDC, for dirty or large wounds a booster is recommended if the last dose was 5 or more years ago (10 years for clean, minor wounds). If you do not remember when you were vaccinated, ask a doctor.

Signs of infection: spreading redness, warmth, swelling, increasing pain, pus, red streaks climbing up the skin, fever. They require medical attention.