Parents, Stay Calm: Steps to Take If Your Child Injures Themselves

The majority of young children end up having accidents and injuring themselves in one way or another. In fact, many children seem as if they’re prone to them! Many of these accidents will be minor, but it’s important to know what to do if your child’s accident is more serious. You could even consider learning some basic first aid before doing anything else, just in case. With that in mind, here are the steps to take if your child has injured themselves:

Photo taken from Flickr

In the Event of an Accident

It can sometimes be hard to know when your child needs an ambulance, or when to rush them off to A&E. You can use the following steps as a guide. Call an ambulance if your child:

• Stops breathing or is struggling for breath.

• Is unconscious, or doesn’t seem to know what is going on.

• Won’t wake up.

• Has had a fit for the first time, even if they seem OK afterwards.

Take your child to accident and emergency if they:

• Have a fever or are lethargic despite having medication.

• Are having a hard time breathing.

• Have severe stomach pain.

• Have a gaping cut or a cut that won’t stop bleeding.

• Have an injury in the leg or arm and can’t use the limb.

• Have swallowed tablets or poison.

If you’re unsure of whether your child’s injury needs medical help, call NHS 111 for advice. If you don’t know whether to move your child, you can make sure they’re warm and then call an ambulance.

Here are ways you can handle other accidents and injuries your child may face:

• If your child gets something lodged in their ear, never try to remove it. If you try to remove it, you could end up pushing it further in, so take your child straight to an ear specialist instead who can safely extract any foreign objects and later perform ear wax removal to ensure the ear is clear of any blockages.

• If your child has a cut, but some pressure on it for about 10 minutes, until it’s stopped bleeding. Don’t put so much pressure on it that the circulation slows or stops. If it’s a serious cut, you might want to take your child to the minor injury unit.

• If your child seems to have some pain in the joints, e.g knee pain, but you aren’t sure what they’ve done, they may have a condition of the joints like arthritis. This does require medical attention, but go to a doctors rather than a hospital.

• If you’re sure your child has swallowed poison, pills, or medicines, take your child straight to their GP or hospital, whichever is quickest. Tell your doctor exactly what you think they’ve taken. You should also take the container so they can calculate how much your child may have taken. Try to stay calm.

• If your child has a fit, stay calm and make sure they’re cool but not chilly. The fit should stop after around 3 minutes, when you should take them to A&E to be looked at. Turn them on their side so they don’t choke, and reassure them when the fit is over. If the fit doesn’t stop after 3 minutes call an ambulance.

The most important thing to remember is to stay calm and act responsibly. By following the tips above, your child should be fine!