HOW SHOULD MOM HANDLE MINOR ACCIDENTS AT HOME

A few days back  son jumped from bed and hit his head on the sharp edge.This resulted in deep laceration on left eyebrow and of course heavy bleeding.I was about to pass out at the sight of my baby's injury and blood,when I got hold of my senses and managed the case.Afterwards I thought that I must share the management plan in case of such accidents(which are frequent)with other mums.

First of all keep a First Aid kit ready at home.Below is what you First Aid Kit should contain:

                                       FIRST AID KIT AT HOME

DETAILS

WOUND DRESSING:Bandage,gauze,antiseptic ointments,band aid(sunnyplast in Pakistan), adhesive tape 

ICE PACK:To control and stop bleeding.

IPECAC SYRUP: A syrup to induce vomiting in case your child ingested something poisonous or    dangerous.

TWEEZERS:For the purpose of picking glass out of wound in injury with broken glass or to pick out sting in insect bite.

ALCOHAL WIPES:To clean the bruised area.

Now,lets discuss some scenarios and possible interventions:

                     INJURIES,BRUISES AND BLEEDING:

1)-Just take some Pyodine mixed in half the amount of water and rinse the area.Next  cover the area with ointment and cover with bandage (If you think baby will touch the wound.If bleeding is profuse,take cold water and rinse the area until bleeding stops. This is all that you can do to arrest bleeding,so keep it up for 5 minutes least.Hopefully the bleeding will stop by then.If not take to ER immediately.

2)-If the child is hurt because of broken glass and you fear that  the shards might be left in the wound,take clean tweezers and a magnifying glass after bleeding stops and  pick out the pieces before applying ointment.

3)-If the child is bleeding from mouth,you can not make him gargle cold water.What to do then?

If the baby is too young for gargling water,take a bowl of cold water and a clean handkerchief. Dip it in the water and put in child's mouth on or near the area of  bleeding.A better idea is to keep  Popscicles or ice lollies in fridge for such emergencies.The child will lick and eat  the Popscicle, which will give  pain relief and bleeding control.I always keep Wall's Jet sport orange lolly in my refrigerator for such unforeseen accidents.After the bleeding ceases,do go to a doctor for complete examination.

                          FALL AND HITTING THE HEAD:

This is more common in babies of 4 month to one year of age.

1)-Just sooth the baby.Give her some milk.If she is breast fed,then breast feeding at the time of distress will greatly  calm the child down.Now,gently examine the head for any soft or raised spots. 

Any bumps at all should be carefully inspected.Next undress the baby and inspect the whole body,especially the chest area,for bruises,bleeds or lacerations.After making sure that there is no external trauma,inspect the limbs.Flex the arms and gently press,like when  massaging.This will help check for fractures or bone damage.Gently move the arms and legs in range of movement, like up down,side to side to ensure joints are safe.If the child cries on gentle pressure application or cries incessantly and is not calming down immediately take the baby to a pediatrician.

NEVER let the baby go to sleep immediately after a fall.Keep the baby awake for 2 hours at least to make sure there has been no internal head injury or brain trauma.Observe the behavior carefully.If you notice something out of routine like speech disturbance etc,you might need to take the baby to ER as soon as possible. 


DANGER SIGN AFTER HEAD INJURY:

If the baby is crying incessantly/uncontrollably,unconscious,sleepy or vomiting forcefully(projectile vomiting), after head injury or fall on head then chances are that some internal bleeding or injury is present .In such case take the baby to Emergency room immediately.

                                           INSECT BITE:

The insects bite cases like bee sting cause pain and discomfort,but most of the times they are not dangerous as long they don't trigger an allergic reaction in which case medical attention will be required.

WHEN TO CALL FOR MEDICAL HELP:

You should call for medical attention when there is one of the following signs:

1)-swollen face,lips or tongue.

2)-Difficulty in breathing

3)-Dizziness and fainting

4)Nausea and vomiting

5)Abdominal Pain

6)Swelling larger then 4 inches at the area of bite.

THINGS YOU CAN DO AT HOME:

In case of bee sting examine the stung area.Bees leave their sting in skin,in the venom sac.Look for the sting and scrape it away using credit card or a spoon.If its a wasp sting then you don't need  to look for the sting as a wasp doesn't leave its sting.In case you aren't sure just examine and make sure no sting is left.

For local redness,swelling and pain:

1)-Wash the area using soap and water twice day until the skin heals.

2)-Give Panadol syrup/Advil for pain relief.

3)-Apply calamine lotion for itch relief.

4)-Ice the area to reduce swelling and pain.

5)-Give the child some antihistamine like Benadryl,T day syrup to reduce swelling.Always with your doctor's advice.

If its a TICK(khatmal) bite and you see the tick still on skin,grasp it with tweezers and pull firmly until it lets go.

Do not touch it with a lit match or jerk or twist it away.As this can cause saliva release and disease transmission or it can cause the insect to burrow deeper.Remember ticks are very filthy and carry germs of dangerous diseases. So,if you remove  one from your child's body,put it in a zip lock bag and submit for examination by a doctor later.Take your child to doctor ASAP.

Carrier mosquito of  DENGUE VIRUS

In case  of mosquito bite,don't scratch too much.Apply a little calamine lotion.If the child feels very itchy wash the area with phitkiri or use a roll on deo that has aluminium chloride.

In case the child goes out for play use a good mosquito repellent on bare areas and dress the child in full length  trousers and full sleeves.

The fear or phobia of Dengue fever grips the nation every summer.If a mosquito bites your child,don't panic.If you can see the mosquito which bit,try to kill and capture it for examination.If it has whitish stripes(photo above),it can be a carrier of Dengue virus.Can be means it may or may not be infected with dengue virus.Just put it in a zip lock and submit for examination at Dengue control center, just to be sure.If your child gets a fever after mosquito bite don't panic thinking its Dengue.Dengue takes 14 days from the day of bite to develop and by that time most of the patients don't remember when the mosquito bit them.So,a fever may be just a little raised temperature.Don't mistake and get scared.

                                           ANIMAL BITE:

In case of animal such as cat or dog bite.Examine the wound.

If its a minor graze and skin barely broken and you are sure that animal was not rabid,just wash the area with soap and water thoroughly and apply a good antibacterial cream or gel.Cover the bite with clean bandage.Keep rinsing and applying antiseptic every 8 hours.

If you see oozing and signs of infection like increased redness,pain and swelling then seek medical help.

If its deep wound and skin is punctured,apply pressure before the area and seek medical help 

ASAP.Get anti rabies shots just in case, because normally dogs or cats don't start biting until they get rabid.

Cat bites cause infections more then dog bites, because a cat bite leaves deep wounds difficult to clean.Wild animals like Bats,fox, raccoon and skunk bite has more chance of transmitting rabies than domestic immunized animals.

SKUNK

RACOON

BAT

Rabbits,squirrels and rodent have rare chance of rabies transmission.

All the mums out there,I hope you found this post useful.If you did share it with your acquaintances  to spread this knowledge.You can like,+1 or Pin it.

What do you do in case of emergencies at home.DO share if you know something useful,it will help others.