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Sunday, January 13, 2013

First Aid, CPR

CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is essentially mouth-to-mouth respiration coupled with chest compression. It can keep a person alive until more advanced procedures arrive. A child or adult given CPR doubles his chance of survival. While CPR is usually given in cases of heart attacks in adults, the need for CPR in children is usually in cases of electric shock, drowning, suffocation caused by smoke inhalation or choking, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or accidents.

If you suddenly realise that your baby is having trouble breathing, here's what you should do:

Take about four seconds to figure out why your baby is not breathing. If he is choking on something he ate, a few firm taps on the back should do the trick.
If he is not choking, then call for emergency medical assistance.
Place your baby on a flat surface like a table or the floor.
Tilt his head slightly backwards. This opens up the airway. Support his neck.
Now, bend down and try and hear if your baby has started to take a few breaths. If you feel he is struggling but has started to breathe, and his lips are pink, you don't need to start giving him breaths. But keep his airway open in this manner.
If his lips are blue, he is not getting enough oxygen, and you need to start giving him breaths.
Take a breath, place your mouth over his nose and mouth, and give about four gentle puffs in five seconds, into your baby's mouth. While you would have to pinch the nostrils of an adult shut, you don't have to do so with an infant.
Don't take a very deep breath though, as too much air may induce vomiting.
Check your baby's pulse. The artery above the wrist, known as the carotid artery, is hard to locate on an infant. Instead, locate the brachial pulse, which is about halfway between the elbow and the shoulder, on the inside of the arm. If you feel a pulse, continue giving one breath every five seconds. You don't need to compress your baby's chest.
If you don't feel a pulse, begin chest compressions. Press the middle of the breastbone with your first two fingers. Use enough pressure to press down about an inch. The breastbone is at the bottom of the rib cage, where the ribs meet. Move up from your child's navel till you feel the ribs.
Remember, all this while your other hand should be supporting the baby's head and neck, making sure the head is bent backwards and the airway remains open.
Give about 5 compressions every 3 seconds, and give your baby one gentle breath after every 5 compressions. Count out loud, so you don't lose track.
It is a good idea to locate your baby's breastbone and pulse now, so you will be better prepared in case of an emergency.

You administer CPR to a child (who is between the ages of 2 and 8), in the same manner, except you use the heel of your hand to compress the chest, and not the first two fingers.

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Saturday, January 12, 2013

First Aid For Snake Bites

If a snake bites your child, for goodness' sake, don't get inspired by Hindi movies and start sucking venom from the wound! There's a lot else you can do to prevent the poison from spreading and reaching the

heart.

Try and get a good look at the snake. This would help the doctor identify it, and treat the bite accordingly.
Get your child away from the snake and try to calm her down.
Make her lie down on a bed or mattress.
She should move as little as possible. The more she moves, the quicker the venom will spread through the body.
It is important to remember that most snakes are not poisonous, and it is likely that your child has been bitten by a non-poisonous snake. However, if fang marks are visible, the snake was probably of the poisonous variety.
Keep the bitten limb below the level of the heart. This slows down the spread of the poison to the heart. So if your child has been bitten on the leg, she could lie down with her leg on a lower level than the mattress, perhaps on a stool.
Some advise that you should wash the bite with soap and water, and then apply an antiseptic, while others advise that it is better not to wash the bite. The doctor will be able to treat your child much better if he has traces of the venom. It is a good idea to wipe the area clean with an antiseptic and retain the wipe for venom traces.
Don't apply ice to the bite.

Coping with an autistic child

Autism is a learning disability in children. A little patience, some professional help and a lot of love can help cope with an autistic child.

Sometimes realities are hard to accept but it is in your hands to change your reality. Amongst the many normal children if one child turns out to have a disability parents find their world collapsing under the weight of a million questions, doubts and anxieties. For a child diagnosed with a problem like Autism life seems uphill. But there is hope. Studies and real life incidents have proved that remarkable improvement is possible in children with autistic disability.Children are just like clay, you can start shaping them in a way that makes them a model of inspiration for others.

If your child has been diagnosed with Autism you can do a lot to improve his condition. Even Einstein and Newton showed signs of autism. All your child needs is constant support and encouragement to do better. Encourage your childby showing interest in his interests, embracing his errors with patience, be there for him and see him soar to the skies. Read on, to learn how you can cope better with an autistic child.

Coping with autism

To be the parent of an autistic child is not easy. With the diagnosis comes a daily struggle and unique challenges that parents face everyday. The question 'why my child', stresses parents the most. Autism is a learning disability that can be dealt with. Worried parents first need to come to terms that a problem exists and the problem has various solutions.

A large part of coping with an autistic child comes from patient parents who co-operate and give time to their child to heal. Comparing one child to another child is the most dangerous thing that even a normal child's parent must avoid. However, parents must talk about their grief, seek help when required and appreciate their child's ways of doing things everyday.

Understanding your child

Imagine if you were forced to do things that you do not like. Would it motivate you to do any better? The same applies to your child. Your child needs you to understand his emotions, feelings, his like and dislikes. Try to note down the small things related to the behaviour of your child. Check his gestures, find out what he likes doing best and spend time communicating. Find out the areas where you see the maximum scope of improvement. Try to keep track on the activities for the development of your child. You may never know but sometimes a problem itself can become a solution.

First Aid For Bee Stings in child

Bee stings, especially in the metro cities, are not very common, but are not freakish incidents either. Almost everyone has had bees buzzing around their living rooms at some time.

Here's what to do in case your child gets stung by a bee.

Remove the stinger. It should be scraped out, and not pulled out. Pulling out a stinger with your fingernails or with a tweezer causes squeezing, and this releases more venom into your body. Scrape it out with your fingernail or a knife blade.
Remember, the venom gland remains attached to the sting, and if it is not removed it will continue to release venom into the body for up to 20 minutes.
Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water. You could even apply a splash of antiseptic like Dettol.
Apply some calamine lotion. A better substitute however, would be a baking soda and water mixture for bee stings, and vinegar for wasp stings.
Relieve pain and swelling by applying a cold compress on the spot. Put ice in a cloth or plastic wrap. Don't apply ice directly on the skin.
Leave the ice wrap on your skin for at least 15 minutes.

Sometimes, your child may have an allergic reaction to the sting. Severe allergic reactions even cause death, so it is important to carefully observe your child for an allergic reaction.

First Aid For Nosebleeds in child

Even though nosebleeds are not usually a cause of worry, they could still be scary, especially as they could cause a lot of blood to flow. It's important to remember that rarely are nosebleeds a cause for alarm.

How are they caused?

Anterior Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds usually occur when the blood vessels in the septum (separates the nostrils) break due to a blow, by picking the nose or even by harsh blowing of the nose. These are common in dry climates. They may even occur during winter, as the dry air from heaters could dehydrate the nasal membranes. Dryness may result in crusting, cracking, and bleeding.

Posterior Nosebleeds

These begin high and deep within the nose, and can flow down the back of the mouth and throat. These nosebleeds are more common in adults, and are caused due to high blood pressure or an injury to the nose or head.

What to do?

First, help your child stay calm. If your child is screaming, her blood pressure will be higher and the bleeding will continue longer.
Make your child sit upright in a chair or lie back with her head elevated with the help of a cushion. Her head should be higher than the level of the heart.
Do not have your child lean back. This may cause the blood to flow down the back of the throat and initiate coughing or even vomiting. Her head should be tipped slightly forward.

TV-watching guidelines for toddlers

The best way to handle how much television and video your toddler watches is to think of them as refined sugar: You want your child to enjoy this seductive stuff without consuming too much. TV viewing has been linked to obesity in children, among other problems, so it's a good idea to stay on top of the time your toddler spends in front of the screen.

The average American child watches more than four hours of TV a day, despite a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that kids 2 and older watch no more than one to two hours daily. The AAP recommends that kids under 2 watch no television at all.

Setting limits from day one is the key to keeping viewing time under control. You're in charge and it's your job to give guidance when it comes to television. It's a lot easier to relax your standards later than it is to wean an 18-month-old from a three-times-a-dayDora or Blue's Clues habit.

Here are tips on how to use television as a learning tool.

Skin wounds

Every time your child's skin breaks, she can be infected with tetanus. The first thing you should do is check that her immunization is up-to-date. Keep your eyes open for swelling, redness, tenderness, warmth, or oozing of pus from the wound

Bruises:

Apply an ice pack or a cold compress for half an hour. Call the doctor immediately if the bruise has been caused by catching the affected part in the spokes of a moving wheel. Bruises that seem to have no explicable reason or that appear simultaneously with fever should also be reported to the doctor.

Scrapes or abrasions:

The top layer of the skin is scraped off leaving the skin raw and tender. There may even be slight bleeding. Gently remove dirt and foreign matter from the wound with soap and water using sterile cotton or gauze. If the bleeding does not stop on its own, you may need to apply pressure. Cover the wound with a sterile nonstick bandage.

Small cuts:

Wash the wound with soap and water and hold it under running water to flush out the impurities. A butterfly bandage will protect the wound while it heals.

Large cuts:

Raise the injured part above the level of the heart if possible. Using a sterile gauze pad, nappy, or a sanitary towel, apply pressure to try to stop the bleeding. If the bleeding does not stop in 15 minutes, apply more pressure using more gauze pads or cloth.

Splinters or slivers

Unless a splinter is very large or has become deeply embedded, the best thing to do is to leave it alone. When the skin grows, small splinters come out on the surface and are automatically expelled.

If a splinter becomes infected, you will need to drain the pus from the infected area using a sterilized needle. You can sterilize the needle by boiling it in hot water for five minutes or by passing it five or six times through a flame. The next step is to calm your child down. Do not tell her that it is not going to hurt, because it will and your child will not trust you again. Numb the affected area with an ice pack. Wash the affected area with soap and water. Get someone to help you to hold the affected area steady. When the needle is cold, gradually break the skin. If one end of the sliver is protruding, try to pull it out using sterilized tweezers. Once you have removed the splinter, wash the area again.