Children's emergency Parents should be prepared to handle emergencies like burns, choking, and so on.
Being prepared to handle acute emergencies at home is an important skill for parents with infants and young children. Many accidents can be prevented if you have some knowledge about infant emergency care.
“Infants are curious by nature. While crawling around and grasping objects, they may pick up small objects like buttons and coins, put them in their mouths and choke on them,” says Clinical Associate Professor Yeo Cheo Lian, Head & Senior Consultant, Department of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group.
Infant choking is one of the four most common infant acute emergencies, besides burns, accidental drowning and swallowing of poisonous liquids.
Look out for three vital signs in a children's emergency
The infant’s appearance, skin colour and breathing effort are indicators of the severity of the condition.
Get emergency help if you notice:
Tips on infant emergency care
Be on the alert for these acute emergencies:
Choking can cause infant death if the trachea or windpipe is completely blocked.
What to do:
The infant may accidentally swallow liquids such as liquid detergent, essential oils or mouth rinse. Once these chemicals get into the bloodstream, they may damage the internal organs.
Signs of poisoning: Vomiting, tremors, sweating, abdominal pain, burns around the lips and mouth, loss of consciousness.
What to do:
Accidental infant drowning can happen anywhere in the house – toilets, buckets or baby bathtubs.
What to do:
Scalding from hot water and hot liquids such as soups and cooking oil is a common cause of accidental burns in infants. Other causes include chemical burns caused by contact with pesticides or detergents and electrical burns from biting electrical cords or touching electrical sockets.
Signs of a burn: Pain and redness (first-degree burn), blisters and severe pain (second-degree burn), dry and white or charred black skin, and little or no pain (third-degree burn).
What to do:
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction to particular foods, medications, or insect bites.
Signs of a serious allergic reaction: Widespread hives, swelling of the eyes, mouth and/ or tongue, wheezing, breathlessness, fainting.
What to do:
Simple fever-related seizures (fits) are common in children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years old. Although they may look frightening, these fits are generally harmless to children.
What to do:
Parents can learn more about infant emergency care by attending a Basic Resuscitation Course organised by the Department of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine at Singapore General Hospital.
Ref: P16