First Aid Guide for Snake, Animal or Human Bites in Children

Snake bites

- Call emergency help - 911 - if the snake is venomous or also if you are unsure of the snake type. You may kill the snake to take it with you to the emergency help at an health center for identification or identify it yourself and report.

- In case of loss of consciousness or difficulty in breathing, emergency help should be asked for.

- Never apply ice on the area, nor cut the bite wound.

- Don't try to suck the poison out.

- Make the child to rest to avoid spreading of the poison in the body.

- Loosely splint the injured area and keep it rested at a position slightly below the level of the heart.

Animal or human bites

Use water and soap to wash wounds properly and apply pressure using sterile gauze if bleeding. Call a pediatrician for help. Antibiotics, tetanus and rabies shot can be given when there is no bleeding.

First Aid Guide for Injuries and Bleeding in Children

This guide provides tips on how to offer first aid in case of bleeding, fractures, snake bites and head injuries.

1. Bleeding

Use gauze to apply pressure for 1 to 2 minutes in order to stop the bleeding. Use more gauze and pressurize for another 5 minutes if bleeding can’t stop. You could also wrap with an elastic bandage firmly over the gauze. Call for emergency help if bleeding does not stop.

Sometimes children are faced with nose bleeding and during this time, have the kid sit upright but without tilting the head back. Loosen any tight clothing around the neck and then pinch the lower end of the nose close to the nostrils. During this time, the kid should lean forward as you apply pressure. Apply pressure for 5 - 10 minutes without any checks in between.

If nose bleeding is occurring because of trauma, swelling can be reduced by holding an ice park against the bridge of the nose once the bleeding slows down. The child should breathe with the mouth. Seek medical attention if the bleeding goes on after ten minutes or starts again.

In other cases, an object may be stuck and still there be bleeding. In this case, apply pressure (by building a padding around the object such that the padding is raised than the stuck object) on both sides of the object while the person lies down, and elevate the part involved. Keep the padding onto place using a bandage.

First Aid Guide for Burns and other Skin Wounds in Children

The following are tips to help your children at home if burns, scalds, bruises and other physical injuries occur.

1. Burns and Scalds

General treatment Run cold water until the pain stops for about 10-30 minutes. Avoid over-cooling the person if a large area has been burnt. Do not remove clothing if stuck on skin. Do not apply ice, medicine, ointment, grease, or butter.

Also assess airway, breathing and circulation for any injuries.

Burns with blisters

Avoid breaking the blister, seek pediatrician help on how to cover the burn, and seek immediate help if the burn has occurred on face, hands, feet and/or genitals.

Large or deep burns

Cool the burn, Call 911 or emergency number and make sure to keep the child warm by covering the body with a clean sheet and a blanket as you wait for help.

Electrical burns

Don’t touch the child with bare hands if still stuck onto a power source - turn off the power and use a wooden broom handle or a non-conductor to cut him or her off. Call for doctor’s attention.

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First Aid Guide for Fainting or Seizures in Children

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Fainting

Check the airway and breathing. Start rescue breathing and CPR. Lay the child on her one side to prevent choking if vomiting has taken place. Raise the feet at a position higher than that of the heart (about 12 inches).

Convulsions, Seizures

Lay the child by her side to stop choking if he or she is still breathing. Seizures that last for 5 minutes or more need emergency attention by a professional (doctor etc).

Secure the child from objects that may injure her especially her head. Don’t place anything in the mouth and losen tight clothing. Don't give water or any liquids including medicine. If blue or not breathing, start off rescue breathing.

Vasovagal syncope

Syncope is a transient loss of consciousness which occurs due to transient global cerebral hypoperfusion that is characterized by quick onset, short duration, and spontaneous complete recovery.

Vasovagal syncope is a type of mediated syncope. An episode may be precipitated by prolonged standing or being in hot crowded areas. Lay the person flat, open airways and assess breathing, raise the legs above heart level if breathing, loosen clothing around waist and/or neck, and call for further help if problem persists.

Poisons

Seek help from Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 at any time or hour of the day.

If the poison has been swallowed, avoid giving anything by mouth or inducing vomiting. Call emergency help, and if possible have the poisoning substance name or label.

First Aid for Fever in Children

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Fever always isn't harmful, as it is a means for the body to fighting infection. Fever may be indicated in the children by the signs of fussiness, sweating, being uncomfortable and warm.

Usually an infection is the cause of fever in children. Other causes include too high heat, extreme overactivity level, medicines, poisons and chemicals. Take the temperatures so as to be sure (in most cases, fever is indicated by a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) ).

First Aid when your child has fever

• If the child is of school going age, do not send the child to School unless it has been at least 24 hours after fever relief.
• Make the child more comfortable by dressing him or her with light clothing to make him / her calm
• Give cool drinks and fluids to avoid dehydration.
• Don't give medicine on your own. Only give fever medicine as recommended by a pediatrician - avoid using aspirin though since it has been linked with Reye syndrome that affects liver and brain.
• You may sponge or bath the child with lukewarm water, but DON'T use cold water, ice baths or rubbing alcohol.

Call the Pediatrician when;

You should call the pediatrician on noticing the below conditions in addition to there being a fever;

• Drowsiness, child being very fussy and ill
• A stiff neck, severe pain in the ear, severe headache, severe sore throat, breathing difficulties, repeated diarrhea and vomiting, and unexplained rash conditioned
• Immune suppressing conditions - sickle cell, cancer, chronic steroid use
• Had reported seizure that has since stopped
• The kid is below 2 months old and the temperature is reaching 100.4°F (38°C) or higher
• The child was in an overheated place such as a car

Boosting your kid's self esteem

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Raising kids is probably one of the most toughest jobs around because many are never prepared for it, but one that can turn out to be fulfilling. Kids develop a sense of self as they see themselves through the eyes of their parents. Therefore, how you present yourself to and behave before them matters, including your body language, tone of voice, expression and actions.

There is probably no better way of raising kids than being a good parent because our actions and expressions towards kids are more of a natural output of who we are on the inside. Even most of the things advised here will probably better be actualized in the life of a parent so they can be mirrored in the life of a kid.

How to be a good parent: 10 Tips

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These guidelines are from advice by Laurence Steinberg, a distinguished professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia, and are themselves based on several years of research and scientific evidence. 

Good parenting is the basis of fostering empathetic, honest, self-reliant, kind, cooperative and cheerful behavior in the child according to Dr. Steinberg. It also helps in multiplying the child's intellect, motivation and desire to achieve and thus protecting them from developing anxiety, depression and antisocial behaviors etc. 

One of the most important things to know is that your child's behavior problems are a mirror of the wrong relationship you have with the kid. It happens the same way we adults behave: you will never listen to even a piece of advice or opinion from people you don't have good relationship with for the simplest fact: you don't trust them. We ignore even agreeing with such people.

First Aid Guide to Choking

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Often, a piece of food is the cause of choking in adults. However, children usually swallow small objects that may cause choking. Choking usually blocks flow of air through the windpipe and may be dangerous as it cuts off oxygen from the brain. Some first aid might be necessary under these circumstances:

The Red Cross recommends a five-and-five first aid approach explained in this article but first, let us see the signs that could show choking.

The most common one is hands being clutched to the throat, but the following can reveal choking;

• Noisy breathing or difficulty in breathing
• Loss of consciousness
• Inability to talk and inability to cough forcefully
• Skin, lips and nails turn blue or dusky

What to do