Article: Before you attempt to remove a foreign object from your eyes, it is important to know what to avoid. Keep the following information in mind as you attempt to remove an object from your eye: Never remove any piece of metal, large or small, that has lodged itself in the eye. Never put any pressure on the eye itself in an effort to dislodge the object. Never use tweezers, toothpicks, or other hard items to remove an object from your eye. Using a sterile eye wash solution to flush out your eyes is the best way to remove a foreign object or chemical irritant from your eyes. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recommends flushing your eyes with water for at least fifteen minutes. Use a sterile eye wash solution to rinse eyes using a continuous stream of fluid. Keep in mind that eye wash solution does not neutralize many chemicals. It just dilutes them and washes them away. For this reason, you will need a large quantity of eye wash solution. If you are at home and you have a small foreign object in your eye such as an eyelash or piece of dirt, then you can try to flush it with gentle running water in the shower. Do not aim the water right at your eye. Instead, allow the water to hit your forehead and run down your face over your eyes. Hold the affected eye open with your fingers to allow water to run over it. Allow the water to run over your eye for a couple of minutes to see if it removes the foreign object from your eye. The amount of time that you will need to rinse your eyes will vary based on the type of irritant or chemical that is in your eye. If you have a piece of something stuck in your eye, then you will need to wash until you feel it come out. If you have a chemical irritant in your eye as well, then you will need to rinse for a certain amount of time depending on the chemical. For mildly irritating chemicals, rinse for five minutes. For moderate-to-severe irritants, rinse for at least 20 minutes. For non-penetrating corrosives such as acids, rinse for 20 minutes. For penetrating corrosives such as alkalis, rinse for at least 60 minutes. If the foreign object does not come out of your eye after a few minutes of rinsing or if you have gotten a severe irritant in your eye as well, then tell another person right away. Have someone call poison control and seek medical attention immediately.

What is a summary?
Know what to avoid. Use an eye wash solution to flush out the object. Get into the shower and allow the water to run down over your open eyes. Observe rinsing times for different chemicals. Seek immediate medical attention if you need to rinse for more than a few minutes.