Emergency care

8 first aid mistakes

Common injuries aren't treated as they once were.


LearnCommon illnesses8 first aid mistakes
Mistake #1: Induce vomiting with ipecac
Mistake #2: Clean cuts with hydrogen peroxide
Mistake #3: Tilt your head back during a nose bleed
Mistake #4: Giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
Mistake #5: Treating a burn with ice or butter
Mistake #6: Cleaning a knocked-out tooth
Mistake #7: Lying down after hitting your head
Mistake #8: Fishing objects out of your skin yourself

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It’s routine to reach for the hydrogen peroxide when your kid falls and scrapes his knee, or for the tweezers when you get a splinter. But you may want to rethink some of these habitual first aid treatments—they can actually make the injury worse. We talked with Scott Scherr, MD, Medical Director of the emergency room at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, to learn the right way to handle ailments, big and small, and what not to do.

Written by Olivia DeLong.
Medically reviewed by Joanne Perron, MD, MPH.November, 2024
Updated onAugust, 2026
Written by Olivia DeLong.
Medically reviewed by Joanne Perron, MD, MPH.November, 2024
Updated onAugust, 2026
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