Guidelines for care & Use of Dry Solvent Stills [Example]

J. Laboratory Emergencies
1. Emergency Procedure and First Aid Overview
When a fire, explosion, serious injury, or any other emergency occurs in your Research or
Teaching Laboratory, you should first of all ask yourself whether it is safe to stay in the lab and whether
anyone is in need of immediate medical attention. If you need any help at all, telephone for it from your
lab. The Emergency Phone Number Information sheet must be posted next to the phone in your lab.
(Naturally, the lab phones in nearby labs will have theirs posted as well, in case you must leave your lab
entirely.)
Please note that two first aid kits are located in the chemistry stockroom, room #110. For minor
emergencies (cuts, burns, minor eye and skin injuries, etc.), please call Student Health Services 24 hours a
day during the regular semester (But not at night during the Summer sessions or during regular semester
holiday periods). Save 911 for more serious emergencies (breathing difficulties, deep lacerations, broken
bones, injuries from fires, etc.) All students have access to the stockroom telephone (in room #110) and are
expected to call university emergency personnel if teachers and teaching assistants are occupied with
accident victims.
Tell emergency personnel what happened in as concise a manner as possible. Your goal should be
to contact help quickly and then proceed to do what you can yourself. Remember to give the room number
and location of the accident.
Do whatever is necessary to give minimal assistance to injured persons. Use whatever medical or
first aid knowledge you have and then stand aside to allow more knowledgeable individuals access. Be
ready to move injured persons away from sources of further injury.
As you read this manual, you will become aware of the many safety procedures and equipment
available to the chemistry department and in your lab. The more you know, the more help you can give.
The more your co-workers know, the more assistance they can give you.
Be especially cognizant of the Poison Control Center, phone # 1-800-848-6946. This is a 24 hour
hotline information service which can give you emergency first aid and medical information for chemical
injuries to specific tissues, organs, and areas of the body. You must tell them exactly what chemical the
victim was injured with if you expect them to help you. This is a very good service. If necessary, they will
fax specific information directly to the chemistry department’s fax machine located in the chemistry office,
room #110C, fax # 336-758-4656 with the physician’s permission only.
Your Research Laboratory should have a first aid kit available. If it does not, use the kits located
in the stockroom, room #110.
There are two chemical first aid books located above the MSDS sheet collection, near the first aid
kits, and across the room from the emergency breathing apparatus in the Chemistry Department stockroom,
#110. PLEASE REVIEW THESE BOOKS SO THAT YOU WILL BE PREPARED TO MAKE USE
OF THEM SHOULD THE NEED ARISE.
a) Effects of Exposure to Toxic Gases: First Aid and Medical Treatment, 3rd Edition, Matheson
Gas Products, Inc., 1988.
b) Lefevre, Marc J., and Conibear, Shirley A. First Aid Manual for Chemical Accidents, 2nd
Edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989.
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