First Aid, Monday, Fifth Period

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The students would find their teacher absent again today, although his replacement this time was not Tony Stark but rather a different Avenger.

"Good afternoon," Thor told them. "Blake--Dr. Blake is unable to join you today," because he had been struggling so badly this morning he'd decided to let Thor deal with things before he remembered it was Monday, and then Thor had insisted that he could handle it and refused to swap him back in.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to have some fun with it, though.

"I thought we would discuss today the importance of balancing one's humors."

It was almost a shame he was the only one who could hear Don's astonished, What?

"The four humors, as I am sure you all know, are blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, and an excess or deficiency of any of these can lead to illness..."

We went to med school! You were there! I know you remember med school! Oh my GOD, put me back in! Put me back right now, so help me--

Thor allowed himself a small smile and a, "Heh," before he admitted, "No, I jest. Although of course a deficiency of blood is a very bad thing indeed, the theory of the humors has long been discredited and has no place in medicine or in matters of personality analysis. Instead, you shall learn how to properly construct a splint using the materials available to you in the field.

"A splint is appropriate when there is some injury to the joint or bone, in order to stabilize and immobilize said injury until proper medical assistance can be rendered. If there is some misalignment--as with a fracture or a dislocated joint--it is very important to not attempt to realign it yourself, as you may cause more damage that you could not predict. Splint the injury in its current state, and leave correcting it for professionals in a controlled setting." Steve and Tony. (He thought, as if Thor would not absolutely put his own shoulder back in despite remembering med school.) "How you construct the splint will depend on which part of the body is injured. For a leg injury, you will want some sort of rigid item such as a stick to help support the limb; for a finger, you can use a neighboring finger as the support. For an arm you may use the torso as your support object by constructing a sling."

Thor proceeded to demonstrate several options for splint construction on the first aid dummy, then said, "After you have applied a splint, it is important to check regularly to make sure you have not made it too tight and cut off circulation. I am sure Dr. Blake has spoken to you of the dangers of tourniquets, and the same risk applies if you make your bandaging too tight.

"You should also keep watch for signs your patient is going into shock, which is a secondary condition that can develop after any form of serious injury. Signs of shock include pale, clammy skin; rapid breathing or hyperventilation; a rapid heartbeat; nausea, vomiting, or excessive thirst; and an altered mental state not attributable to a head injury--persons in shock may be unresponsive or slow to do so, or they may be irritable and restless. It depends. If you suspect your patient is entering shock, firstly, treat the condition that is the root cause, then it is important to keep them calm and comfortable. Lay them on their back if that is appropriate given their overall condition, and if they are cold, warm them up; if they are hot; cool them down. Do not give them anything to eat or drink, even if they are complaining of thirst.

"Are there any questions?" After Thor had given the students the opportunity to ask any questions they might have, he said, "Now, let us practice various splints upon our good friend the first aid dummy, using the handwavey objects you may find in this hiking day pack I conveniently have available, as well as some sticks I collected from the woods."