During a State Rally that Elaine and I just attended we had the pleasure of hosting a couple of safety seminars for the attendees. During a session of our presentation the audience was dumbfounded and shocked at a casual remark made by Elaine. She told them that high impact accidents sometimes result in having the victim's eyes (or one of them) pop out of their heads. [Subsequent to posting this article an EMT wrote me that in 15 years of experience he has NEVER witnessed a case of an eye dislocating. Our most recent CPR/First Aid class, on the other hand, included acknowledgement that high impact accidents do result in dislocations. For what it's worth.]

This was not meant to shock or make the audience uncomfortable, but rather to point out that a first aid kit should include a few things that most people don't seem to realize could come in very handy.

(In the case of an eye or eyes that have popped out of their sockets, you should not assume that the victim is rendered blind as a result. The eyes can be returned to their sockets by competent medical people.)

The problem is that the victim can STILL SEE with their eyes dislocated and that scares them and confuses them to the point that they can do some very damaging things to themselves.

What to do? Use empty Styrofoam cups and capture each eye in one and hold it up near the sockets. Use a large triangle bandage and secure the cups (goggle fashion) against the head. This 'blinds' the victim, removes the confusion of uncontrolled sight, and protects the eyes themselves from further damage resulting from handling (particularly by the victim.)

Keep the victim still - TALK TO THEM NON-STOP!!!!!! - and wait for medical help to arrive.

Ugly and uncomfortable to think about, but if you have read this far you could be the reason a victim has any sight left at all after an accident.

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