HEALTH MATTERS
By: Carolyn Schindewolf
It is important for adults to know what to do when a first aid emergency arises, especially when the emergency involves children. Parents, grandparents, teachers, day care providers, baby-sitters, and anyone else who comes in contact with children should have a rudimentary understanding of first aid and child safety techniques.
Water safety
The importance of water safety cannot be overstated. Drowning is silent and takes just a few minutes.
Water in toilets, buckets, baby pools, big puddles and swimming pools poses a threat. Because infants and young children have such heavy heads, once their heads drop into the water, they are unable to lift them out. Remember that it takes only one inch of water to drown.
Each year, more than 300 children under 5 drown in residential pools while most victims were being supervised by one or both parents. Seventy-five percent of drowning incidents involve children ages 1 to 3, with the majority being boys. Nearly half these children were last seen in the house, so it is important to provide constant supervision.
Bee stings
As the seasons change, bee stings are a concern.
Only the honeybee leaves a stinger with the venom sac attached. To remove the stinger, scrape it with a fingernail or credit card, but do not use tweezers, which can cause the stinger to break off in the skin. Use a paste made of baking soda and water and apply to the area; this neutralizes the acid in the stinger. If the sting is from a wasp, its venom is alkaline; treat this with lemon juice or vinegar.
It is typical for the sting site to itch and hurt. Treat itching with calamine lotion and use a cold pack to relieve pain. If the child breaks out in hives, give Benadryl and call the doctor this may indicate an allergic reaction which is likely to get worse with subsequent stings.
Ticks
When it comes to ticks, remove them with tweezers, being careful to get the head. After removal, wash the area with soap, water and rubbing alcohol. Watch the child for reactions such as joint pain and flu-like symptoms for approximately one month, and if they occur, call your pediatrician. Continue to examine the tick site for a bulls-eye rash, which is often present when there is Lyme disease.
Temperature extremes
Temperature extremes pose a threat to children who often seem impervious.
To prevent frostbite, limit or prohibit time outside when the weather is dangerously cold. To prevent chapping, apply petroleum jelly to the face and opt for mittens over gloves. Children who have been exposed to the cold for too long should be warmed up gradually. Do not rub their skin vigorously because this causes further tissue damage.
Extreme heat can be just as dangerous to children. To help prevent heat exhaustion or stroke, limit time outside, avoid the hottest hours of the day, supervise activities, provide plenty of fluids (popsicles are a great idea) and offer salty snacks to prevent the body from losing salt.
Seizures
Seizures are frightening for children and adults. Some children who run a high fever may have a febrile seizure; for others, it may indicate epilepsy.
During seizures, do not try to hold them down or put fingers in their mouths. Instead, protect their heads by putting them in your lap and wait it out. Seizures typically last a few minutes. Should this occur, take your child to his or her pediatrician.
Medication dosage
When giving children medication, here are a few good rules of thumb:
Give medication doses by weight rather than age;
Do not administer aspirin;
Do not substitute infant Tylenol drops (which are very concentrated) for the Tylenol designed for older children.
Croup
Many young children develop croup, a byproduct of a respiratory infection which is marked by a hoarse cough and difficulty breathing.
To relieve croup, it is helpful to introduce moisture into the lungs. You can either bring the child into the bathroom and create a steam room by turning on a hot shower or bring the child outside if it is cold out. Also, add moisture to his or her bedroom by using a cool mist vaporizer.
Pediatric First Aid classes are offered twice a month at The Medical Center at Princeton. For more information or to sign up for a class, please call (609) 497-4442.
Carolyn Schindewolf is a health educator on staff at The Medical Center at Princeton. This article was prepared in collaboration with Lorraine Seabrook.