--Don't change the dressings that were initially applied to the burn, until absolutely necessary. Dressings may be left in place for a week, if necessary.
Radiation Sickness
Radiation sickness is caused by the invisible rays given off by particles of radioactive fallout. If a person has received a large dose of radiation in a short period of time--generally, less than a week--he will become seriously ill and probably will die. But if he has received only a small or medium dose, his body will repair itself and he will get well. No special clothing can protect a person from gamma radiation, and no special medicines can protect him or cure him of radiation sickness.
Symptoms of radiation sickness may not be noticed for several days. The early symptoms are lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness and headache. Later, the patient may have sore mouth, loss of hair, bleeding gums, bleeding under the skin, and diarrhea. But these same symptoms can be caused by other diseases, and not everyone who has radiation sickness shows all these symptoms, or shows them all at once.
If the patient has headache or general discomfort, give him one or two aspirin tablets every 3 or 4 hours (half a tablet, for a child under 12). If he is nauseous, give him "motion sickness tablets," if available. If his mouth is sore or his gums are bleeding, have him use a mouth wash made up of a half-teaspoonful of salt to 1 quart of water. If there is vomiting or diarrhea, he should drink slowly several glasses each day of a salt-and-soda solution (one teaspoonful of salt and one-half teaspoonful of baking soda to 1 quart of cool water), plus bouillon or fruit juices. If available, a mixture of kaolin and pectin should be given for diarrhea. Whatever his symptoms, the patient should be kept lying down, comfortably warm, and resting.
Remember that radiation sickness is not contagious or infectious, and one person cannot "catch it" from another person.