Of course, you can’t protect your children from accidents around the clock without at the same time taking away some of their independence and activity. Here it is necessary to find the right balance between safety and freedom. Prevention is important in any case. This means recognizing early on where dangers lurk and avoiding them, or making older children aware of the dangers and training them in safe behavior (e.g. in traffic). To compensate, you should give your children plenty of freedom to move where as little as possible can happen to you.
What if it did happen?
In accident situations with children, it is important to react calmly, appropriately and quickly. This includes knowledge about the specific implementation of first aid measures, but also the correct assessment of the situation: can I help here alone? Or is the family doctor necessary? Do I perhaps need to call the ambulance or even an emergency doctor?
First aid for infants and children
Although the control of consciousness, breathing and circulation are the same in principle, there are important differences to consider in first aid measures, which have their cause primarily in the anatomy of children, which differs from that of adults. In the case of infants, this primarily refers to the anatomy of the upper respiratory tract. Infants have a relatively large head and a short neck. The larynx sits higher than in older children and adults, and the epiglottis is located so high in the throat that it touches the soft palate.
In terms of first aid, this means that the life-saving maneuver in children and adults – reaching over the head into the neck – should not be performed on an infant, as it can cause respiratory distress or even respiratory arrest.
- Another peculiarity of the respiratory tract: the mucous membranes of infants and children swell much faster than those of adults. In addition, the diameter of the airways (e.g., the trachea) is smaller. Therefore, in newborns and infants who are “nose breathers”, even a “simple” cold can extremely hinder breathing.
- The oxygen consumption of a child is about two to three times that of adults. This high consumption is offset by a proportionally smaller oxygen reservoir in the lungs (small lungs). Therefore, emergencies in children are often caused by respiratory impairment.
- A similar situation applies to the cardiovascular system in children. Because infants and young children have an overall lower blood volume, even small blood losses can lead to shock. Also burns, massive sweating or the “vomiting diarrhea” can very quickly trigger a so-called volume deficiency shock due to the massive loss of fluid.
Psychological features
Infants and children do not react like adults in emergency situations. If they are still too young, for example, they lack the language skills to describe exactly what has happened. In addition, they often cannot localize pain accurately: Many different complaints are described as abdominal pain – preferably in the navel area.
Children often suffer a psychological shock as a result of an accident. As a result, they become extremely withdrawn or silent, others are very restless and disoriented. It is therefore particularly important to convey calm and security and to explain the first aid measures to the child if possible. In some circumstances, it may be helpful to include the favorite stuffed animal in the measures.
Best: back to the classroom
The first aid course for the driver’s license is a long time ago. And as already emphasized, the measures with the adult can not be transferred 1:1 to children. If parents want to spare your children an emergency situation in which they are experienced by the child as extremely helpless, a special first aid course can provide relief.
