Administering Pediatric Safety for Childhood Emergencies

Editor’s Note: While we would love to take credit for all the terrific information included in this post …(and of course are incredibly flattered that our name appears in the title)…in truth, we had nothing to do with the creation of this wonderful infographic. All credit (along with our thanks) goes to Adams Safety Training.

Hands-Only CPR Can Save a Life

Would you know what to do if someone suddenly collapsed nearby? Would you know how to assess the situation, decide on whether the person needed emergency care and administer cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), if necessary? Unfortunately, many people do not know how to handle this type of situation. Many fear doing the wrong thing and making a bad situation even worse. Others may fear catching a disease or illness from performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on someone without a barrier to protect against germs. For these reasons, the American Heart Association (AHA) has simplified its recommendations for performing CPR so more people are apt to learn and take action when needed.

Recently I became a certified instructor for the AHA and am trained to teach courses for healthcare professionals and for non-healthcare/non-medical people. Most of the people I teach are required to have CPR training as a part of their employer’s requirements or simply because their employer wants to have their staff trained. Other classes are for individuals who have a personal desire or reason to learn and become CPR certified. Even before I became a certified instructor, I’ve always highly encouraged everyone I know to become trained because you just never know when someone might need your help. I wish we could make it mandatory for parents to learn CPR before a baby is born but that will probably never happen. So all I can do is encourage and recommend taking a class and try to inform you of helpful information available to you and anyone else interested in knowing how to perform CPR in an emergency.

The AHA wants to encourage more people to help so they simplified the actions and process of helping for those who have not been formally trained. They want to spread the word about Hands-Only CPR because it can save lives that may be lost otherwise. Hands-Only CPR consists of immediately calling 911 or your local emergency number to get help on the way and then beginning chest compressions by placing your hands in the center of the victim’s chest and pushing hard and fast at a rate of 100 beats per minute. Continue doing this until help arrives or someone else can take over for you.

To see a demonstration of Hands-Only CPR, watch this video:

Visit the AHA’s Hands-Only CPR information page to learn more.

The AHA has also developed a handy app for most smartphones that can be referred to in the case of an emergency. This free app offers instructions and video. Just search “Hands-Only CPR” in iTunes and the Android Marketplace to find and download it. If you have another type of smartphone, search that term in your phone’s app store.

For Infants, Children and in Certain Circumstances…

“The American Heart Association recommends conventional CPR with breaths and compressions for infants and children; victims of drowning, drug overdose or other respiratory problems; and adult victims who are found already unconscious and not breathing normally.” …American Heart Association

A CPR course teaches you the skills needed to help those other victims. You’ll also practice performing the same two steps you’ll need for Hands-Only™ CPR. Typically people who have had CPR training are more confident about their skills and more likely to assist someone in a real emergency.

Even a very short CPR training program that you can do at home, like the American Heart Association’s 22-minute CPR Anytime, provides skills training and practice that can prepare you to perform high-quality chest compressions.”

The AHA also has an Infant CPR Anytime course available, which is highly recommended for all parents, grandparents, and caregivers.

If you would like to learn more about CPR and life-saving skills beyond Hands-Only CPR, please visit the AHA’s class locator page.

Remember, you never know when you may be called upon to help save a life. Why not learn how today?

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Editors Note: AHA’s Hands-Only CPR is only for use on adults. We highly recommend every parent get certified in conventional CPR…a child’s life could one day depend on it.

My Child is Sick: New Book Tells Parents When to Call the Doctor

Have you ever debated about whether your child’s symptoms warranted a call to the doctor or not? Wondered if your kid was sick enough to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night or if it was okay to wait until the morning to go to the doctor’s office instead? Worried whether you were doing the right things to treat your child’s symptoms at home? Then a new book from Dr. Barton D. Schmitt may be just what the doctor ordered.

My Child is Sick!: Expert Advice for Managing Common Illnesses and Injuries is a new reference guide designed to help parents find answers fast to questions about treating the illnesses and injuries they are most likely to encounter while raising kids. This easy to use guide offers the same expert advice and guidance given by doctors and nurses in 10,000 practices and 400 nurse call centers in the United States and Canada and using the Pediatric Telephone Protocols which have been tested for 15 years on over 150 million phone calls. Now all of that advice is yours in one practical reference guide.

The author, Dr. Barton D. Schmitt is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine medical director of the After-Hours Call Center at The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Schmitt is also the author of Pediatric Telephone Protocols: Office-Hours version (12th edition, 2009), published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and Your Child’s Health (Bantam Books). Dr. Schmitt’s purpose in writing the book was to assist parents in determining when it is necessary to call a doctor about their child’s symptoms and how to treat the child at home if a doctor’s care is not required.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “inside this practical guide, parents will find:

• Straightforward information on the most common illnesses and injuries of childhood
• Decision charts to help care givers determine when to call the doctor and when it’s safe to treat symptoms at home, as well as descriptions of which symptoms are normal during the course of an illness or recovery from an injury and which are cause for concern.
• Specific time-frame guidelines as to when to call the doctor or 911.
• In-depth advice for treating symptoms at home, taking the guesswork out of how to make little ones feel better.
• Drug dosage charts for the most commonly used non-prescription medicines.

With My Child is Sick at their fingertips, parents will never again have to worry about whether they’ve made the right decision about their child’s illness or injury.”

The 50 most common illnesses and injuries children are likely to face are outlined in order of areas of the body, and offer specific instructions on when to call the child’s doctor, when to call 911 or emergency services, and how to treat the illness or injury at home and offers information for children of all ages, from newborns to teenagers.

Parents may be tempted to think a book is unnecessary in this digital age where answers are abundant on the internet but if you’ve ever searched an illness or injury online before, you may already know that there is an overwhelming amount of information and advice to wade through and in some cases, not all of the information or advice is accurate or from an expert source. This book has accurate, expert guidance in a quick, easy to use format that can save parents time, money (if it saves you from making a trip to the doctor that wasn’t necessary), and a lot of worry.

After reviewing Part 1: Head or Brain Symptoms, which covers crying, head injuries, and headaches, I was glad to find that it is not written in “medical jargon” or “doctor speak” but easy to understand with clear instructions on what to do. I highly recommend parents have this book on hand in an handy location where it is easy to find in an emergency. It would even make a great baby shower gift for new parents. The book can be purchased online at the major online book retailer’s websites and may be available in your local bookstore.

The Importance of Teaching Kids to Use 911

Would your child know what to do in an emergency? Does your child know what is a real emergency (and what isn’t) and how to call 911?

Have you talked about and practiced how to handle a variety of emergency scenarios?

Kids as young as three years old can begin learning how and when to call 911 in the event of an emergency. Knowing what to teach kids about 911 is essential to ensure they use it properly and do not call 911 unnecessarily.

Here are some helpful tips for teaching the proper use of 911:

1. Always teach your child the number is 9-1-1, not 9-11. You and I know there is not an “eleven” button on the phone, but young children do not and may waste valuable time trying to find the “eleven” button. Teach your child how to dial the phone using a play telephone or an unplugged or non-working phone. Do NOT actually call 911 while teaching your child. Pretend to be the dispatcher and ask what the emergency is and where. Coach your child on how to talk clearly and give the information necessary to help the dispatcher.
2. The right time to call 911: Role-play different scenarios with your child, such as, “What would you do if the house was on fire?” or “What would you do if someone was very badly hurt or unconscious?” Talk about different types of emergencies and how to respond to them. It is also critical to teach kids never to call 911 as a joke or prank, and not to call for non-emergencies, as this can cause emergency responders to waste time that is needed for true emergencies elsewhere. In most cities, calling 911 as a joke is considered a crime and legal action may be taken. If you accidently dial 911, stay on the line and tell the operator that it was an accident. Do not hang up before telling the operator that it was a misdial, otherwise responders may be sent because they will assume there is an emergency. For non-emergency calls to the police or other authorities, post the non-emergency numbers near the phone.
3. Call from a safe location: If the house is on fire, make sure your child understands that they need to go to a pre-determined meeting place or to a neighbor’s house before calling 911.
4. Stay calm: It is easy to panic in an emergency. By practicing and discussing different types of emergencies, your child will be better prepared to stay calm and be able to talk to the dispatcher. Explain to your child that it is important to stay as calm as possible so they can give information to the 911 dispatcher and follow the dispatcher’s instructions.
5. Give your name, address (or location if the emergency is not at home), and state the nature of the emergency: Kids need to know their name, address, and tell the dispatcher what is wrong so the dispatcher can determine which responders need to be sent. It is also a good idea to have your address posted near the phone, along with 911 and other emergency numbers.
6. Do not hang up until the dispatcher tell you it is okay to hang up: Dispatchers are trained to stay on the line with callers, especially kids, to make sure the emergency responders arrive at the appropriate location and in case any thing changes with the situation that needs to be communicated to the responders.
7. Check out the following resources for additional help with teaching kids how to use 911:
   • • There is a great new educational DVD, “9-1-1: Getting Help is Easy”, starring Cell Phone Sally, which teaches life-saving 9-1-1 skills to kids ages 5-8 (but I think all ages can learn from and enjoy it). Check out the trailer and videos with your kids here:
     • http://www.youtube.com/user/CellPhoneSally911
   • and here: http://theinsanitycorporation.com/cps/CPS_WEB.html

Additional resources:

• 911 for Kids – 911 Training and Education
• 9-1-1 Song for Young Children

…And Then There’s the Joy

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