Kids are unpredictable. Accidents can happen anytime and anywhere. It can be shocking for parents to see their child all bruised up, or soaked in blood, but it is also important to understand that you can save your child from severe consequences of the injury with a calm mind and quick reactions. In this article, we'll discuss some steps that you should follow when you see your child injured.
Keep yourself calm and attentive when dealing with your child's injury. You should be prepared to handle all kind of injuries with a calm mind to make sure that you are able to make decisions and act rationally.
Step One - Do Not Move Your Child
A lot of parents have a tendency to move and hold their child tightly as soon as they see them lying on the floor injured. It's a natural reaction signifying protection and concern. But you should understand that your child can be in extreme pain and moving the child from one place to another without knowing the severity of the injury can hurt your bundle of joy, and possibly even worsen their condition. Unless your child is lying on a potentially dangerous place where more harm can come to him, just leave him where he was, and speak to him soothingly to calm him down.
Step Two - Act According To The Injury Type
There are numerous types of injuries. Small injuries where the wound is not too deep can be handled with first aid. Make sure you clean the blood with water before applying any antiseptic. Wrap the wound with a clean bandage to control the flow of blood. Take your child to the emergency room or call 911 if the wound is too deep and the blood flow is uncontrollable.
Step Three - Is Your Child Breathing?
As soon as you reach the accident spot, make sure you check the breathing of your child. If you think he's having trouble in breathing give him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately. Meanwhile, you can ask someone to call for emergency services to make sure you child gets treated by professionals if necessary.
Step Four - Call Emergency If The Condition Is
In order to determine the severity of the injury you can do a couple of simple tests. Ask your child to move the fingers of his hands and legs in different directions. Ask him if he can do it comfortably. Also, see if both the pupils are of same size, and whether your child is easily responding to your simple questions like "what is your name" or "how old are you". If you find any difficulty in either of the tests, make sure you take your child to the nearest healthcare center, as these symptoms can be due to a serious injury, and they can just be because of temporary paralysis caused by shock, but leave nothing to chance.
Step Five - Seek The Opinion of A Legal Expert
If the injuries are severe, you always have the option to take legal action against the person or institution taking care of your child. There are a set of legal questions that need to be answered in a certain way/ An expert personal injury lawyer can help you deal with that relatively easily, given the circumstances.