When a fire occurs, smoke affects the eyes, victims are susceptible to burns of the conjunctiva and cornea, which can cause serious irreversible damage.
Doctor CKII Bui Thi Kim Oanh, Viet Nga International Eye Hospital, said the eyes are one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, sometimes under the influence of the environment, causing eye damage. In particular, when a fire occurs, there are many negative effects on human health in general, of which the most common effect is burns in the eyes due to smoke. Burns are divided into 3 types including burns caused by heat, chemicals, or both of the above causes.
During a fire, the temperature in the fire area increases very high, many toxic gases are dispersed in the room and enter the victim’s eyes. At this time, they may be mildly or severely affected.
“Patients may experience dangerous complications such as conjunctival burns and corneal burns. In particular, the cornea may be seriously irreversibly damaged, leading to corneal scarring. The eyelid skin may also be damaged.” The damage leads to necrosis,” said Dr. Oanh.
Ms. Oanh said that bad complications affecting the eyes are usually not life-threatening but can seriously affect the quality of life. Besides, in a fire situation, having blurred vision, not being able to see the road, or blurred vision can cause panic and easily lead to serious consequences. In addition, burns in the eyes mean that a number of human organs are also affected such as the lungs, larynx, legs, arms and other organs in the body, which reduces human health. .
Doctor Evgenii Chernov, an expert at this hospital, added that when there is a fire, you should use a wet towel to cover your face as a mask to protect your eyes. When there is a burn to the eyeball, the first thing you need to do is wash your eyes with water immediately by all means. You can use tap water to cool your eyes to prevent this part from being damaged by dust and toxins in the fire.
For fire prevention staff and those exposed to fires, you should keep an eye on your eyes. If there are symptoms such as watery eyes or fear of light, it may be a burn. You should not be subjective and need to have your eyes examined at a specialized medical facility immediately to avoid causing more serious eye damage.
Doctors will provide medicine and advice appropriate to each patient’s condition. Timely treatment will help prevent eye damage or, if damaged, recover faster, avoiding cases where the condition gets worse and cannot be treated.