This video demonstrates how to irrigate an eye. It is important to irrigate a chemical injury as soon as possible. Try to be swift without making mistakes while also respecting the patient. Wash your hands and don PPE.
You will need local anaesthetic drops, PH paper, Speculum, towel, bowl, cotton buds, a jug, syringe, giving set and clean irrigating fluid. Prepare all the equipment. Explain what you're going to do and gain consent. Lie the patient down and get him to lean back on a seat. Tilt the head to the side of the affected eye.
Place a towel and bowl to soak up fluid. Put local anaesthetic drops into the eye. Remove any contact lenses.
Use your fingers to open the eye. Pour fluid from a close distance using a jug or giving set. You can also keep the eyes open with a speculum and use a large syringe to irrigate. Ask the patient to look in different directions.
Make sure you irrigate the lower fornix and evert the upper lid to wash away any foreign bodies. If foreign bodies remain then use a cotton bud to remove until they're all gone. Continue this.
for at least 15 to 30 minutes. If litmus paper is available then stop when the pH is neutral. After irrigation examine the eye closely.
You can use the anterior segment loop of the arclight for this. Look for signs of a serious injury such as blanched blood vessels, a hazy cornea and after addition of fluorescein and examining with the blue light of the arclight corneal epithelial loss. If any of these signs are present then refer to an eye specialist.