| Safety Manual by Catherine Gross |
| aware of the victim’s body temperature. Get the victim of a hospital or doctor. This is serious and not treatable by anyone other than a professional. Burns are the second most common cause of accidental death and to be taken |
| For second degree burns, apply cold, do not puncture the blisters. If you use vitamin e or aloe on the wound in the days to follow, it will aid the skins healing process. To treat a third degree burn cover the wound with dry dressing and be |
| seriously. Understand the risks of this type of play. You may never to be too careful with the element of fire. |
| Burn Care and Types of Burns (continued) |
| Blood Sports: Piercing, Suturing and Cutting |
| - 11 - |
| Piercing, suturing and cutting have many overlapping areas when it comes to safety. Where to and not to Pierce/Cut: Neck, face (though it’s done), toes, fingers, spinal column, collar bone, hands and lower back Avoid major nerves- you’re generally safe if you avoid the areas listed above. Places to pierce are thighs, upper arms, forearms, sides, and torso. The abdomen, labia, nipples are pierce-able but demand more technical knowledge. Make sure you have alcohol, betadine, gloves, gauze, sharps container, paper towels, and whatever else you may need to pierce close at hand. Check your enviroment. Make sure nothing can fall on your bottom or that anything is near that they or you may bump into when piercing them. Keep your enviroment as clean as possible. Make sure you have good lighting. Don’t pierce over veins that are protruding from the skin. Gather everything you need when you start so you don’t have to leave your bottom. Wear gloves always. Even if you are fluid bonded, the various particulants under your nails will place your bottom at risk of infection. Short of soaking your hands in betadine, working it in under your nails, allowing it to dry fully- your hands aren’t clean. I |
| recommend spraying your gloves down with alcohol to clean them. Alcohol cleans but it is not a disinfectant. Betadine is. Clean the area you intend to pierce, suture or cut. Soap and water, then alcohol will do for piercings and suturing. Always used Betadine for cuttings. Apply, make sure it is completely dry and then wipe down with alcohol to remove the stain from the betadine. In suturing if you are adding decorations, please clean them first with alcohol. Technicare is also a good prep solution to use on the skin. Your worst enemy here is Hepatitis. Please see the section on disease for more information. Never pierce, suture or cut beyond the third layer of skin. If you cut into the third layer of skin, most people will scar. It is possible to get a scar from a first layer cutting as well. Temporary piercing, even with small gauges, may scar also. The more melanin the thicker the skin and more likely that the skin will scar. All skin is unique, it will vary in thickness, color, healing ability and time. Make sure the person you’re piercing understands this. It’s possible that you could hit a vein or artery. Arteries are generally well below the third layer of skin, however, this is not always the case. If you hit either, don’t panic. In the case of piercing, we’ re talking about a very small hole. Put pressure on the wound with gauze. It should stop bleeding in three to |
| seven minutes. With cuttings, the damage may be much greater. If you can’t get the bleeding to slow considerably or stop within ten minutes, call 911. Have a towel on hand to catch any blood that possibly escapes from the gauze. Lay it below the bleeding area. Cover anything you don’t wish to have blood on that is below the piercing area. I recommend using only scalpels for cuttings. Some people use knives, However, I feel that since they tend to tear the skin it is not your best option. Scalpels were made to cut skin and therefore offer a cleaner line. Do not use scalpels or needles that have been previously used. Though these items are incisive, they dull with each use. Needles are made to penetrate skin once. They dull quickly. Scalpels do dull but not as fast. Change them as you feel more resistance. These aren’t safer forms of play. You do your best to minimize your risk but the risk is greater for the transmission of disease as you are working with body fluids. Please dispose of all related materials for this type of play in and Sharp’s container. Do not throw the Sharp’ s container in your regular trash. You may usually drop them at a pharmacy or hospital in your area. I highly recommend mentoring before attempting these forms of SM. There are many skills which go into this form of play. Be thorough, cautious and study hard. |