Children have many bangs to the head and it can be difficult to tell whether they are serious or not. Many head injuries are not serious and simply result on a bump or bruise. However severe, or repeated head injuries can result in damage to the brain.

Fortunately, most childhood falls or blows to the head result in injury to the scalp only, which is usually more frightening than life threatening – the head and face are very vascular and consequently injuries bleed profusely and can be very scary! An internal head injury may have more serious implications because it could cause damage to the brain.

What to look for and what to do:

Call 999 or 112 if your child is an infant; has lost consciousness, even momentarily; or if a child of any age has any of these symptoms:

• won’t stop crying
• complains of head and neck pain
• becomes difficult to console
• isn’t walking normally

If your child is not an infant, has not lost consciousness, and is alert and behaving normally after the fall or blow:

• Apply a wrapped ice pack or instant cold pack to the injured area for 10 minutes.
• Observe your child carefully for the next 24 hours. If you notice any of the signs of  brain injury (see below), phone an ambulance immediately.
• If the incident has occurred close to bedtime or naptime and your child falls asleep soon afterward, check in every few hours to look for twitching limbs or disturbances in colour or breathing. It is perfectly ok for your child to go to sleep – there is no need to keep a child awake after a head injury.

• if you aren’t comfortable with your child’s appearance (trust your instincts), arouse your child partially by sitting him or her up. Your child should object to this and attempt to resettle. If he or she doesn’t protest, try to wake them fully. If your child can’t be woken, or shows any symptoms of a brain injury (see below) call an ambulance.

Suspected brain injury

The brain is cushioned by cerebrospinal fluid, but a severe blow to the head may knock the brain into the side of the skull or tear blood vessels. Any internal head injury — fractured skull, torn blood vessels, or damage to the brain itself — can be serious and possibly life threatening.

Different levels of injury require different levels of concern. It can be difficult to determine the level of injury, so it’s always wise to discuss a head injury with your doctor. A clear indicator of a more serious injury is when a child loses consciousness or has signs of confusion. These symptoms can come on at any time from immediately after the accident to a couple of days later. It is sensible to have your child sleep in the same room as you for a couple of nights following a head injury.

What to Look for and What to Do

Call an ambulance if your child shows any of these symptoms:

• unconsciousness
• abnormal breathing
• obvious serious wound or suspected skull fracture
• bleeding or clear fluid from the nose, ear, or mouth
• disturbance of speech or vision
• pupils of unequal size
• weakness or paralysis
• dizziness
• neck pain or stiffness
• fitting
• vomiting more than two to three times  - (it is not unusual for children to vomit immediately after an accident as a response to pain, so do not panic if your child is sick just once after a head injury).
• loss of bladder or bowel control

If your child is unconscious:

• If they are breathing – roll them into the recovery position (on their side so that their tongue falls forward in their mouth and any vomit can drain away), trying not to twist their neck or spine at all. Any head injury may well have caused spinal damage as the head recoils from the blow.
• If they are not breathing start CPR.
• Call for an ambulance.

If your child is conscious and it is a serious head injury:

• Phone for an ambulance
• Do your best to keep your child calm and still – making sure that they do not twist.
• If there’s bleeding, grab a clean cloth and apply pressure.
• Do not attempt to clean the wound as it could make things worse.
• Do not apply forcefull direct pressure to the wound if you suspect the skull is fractured.
• Do not remove any object that’s stuck in the wound.

First Aid for life provides this information for guidance and it is not in any way a substitute for medical advice. First Aid for Life is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made, or actions taken based on this information. It is strongly advised that you attend a practical First Aid course to understand what to do in a medical emergency.

Emma Hammett

www.firstaidforlife.org.uk
emma@firstaidforlife.org.uk

Cardiac Arrest –Would you know what to do?

The tragic death of Claire Squires in the London Marathon has shocked the nation. A superfit young woman, who had recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and had trained hard for the Marathon. Claire’s death was the tenth since the London Marathon began in 1981.

Five of the previous 10 Marathon fatalities were a result of heart disease in runners apparently unaware that they had a problem. Four of these were cases of severe coronary heart disease.

Following so soon after the shocking collapse of Fabrice Muamba it is a scary reminder that anyone can suddenly suffer a Cardiac Arrest.

Would you know what to do if someone collapsed in front of you?

Please watch my training video to show you clearly what to do

Danger       – First check it is safe and that there is nothing that has injured them and could be a danger for you.

Response – Speak to them to see if they respond, if not pinch them hard on their ears.

If you get a response – they are alive!!

If there is very little response then they are not sufficiently conscious to keep their Airway open – PUT THEM INTO THE RECOVERY POSITION now and phone 999 or 112 immediately!

Make sure they are over so that they would be dribbling!

If there is no response you will need to:

Airway – Open the Airway (2 fingers under their chin and one on their forehead and tilt the head and lift the chin to take the tongue off the back of the throat)

Now check for Breathing –

Look along the body

Listen for breaths

Feel their breath on your cheek to see if they are

breathing

If you are positive that they are breathing  – Put into the Recovery position NOW and phone 999/112

If you are not sure whether or not they are breathing, you will need to phone the Emergency Services and start CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation)

Push hard and fast on the centre of their chest – right between the nipples

Push down 5-6 cms

At a rate of 120 beats per minute

After about 30 compressions…

To give someone the best chance, you will need to:

tilt the head and lift the chin to take the tongue off the back of the airway

then give 2 breaths – sealing your mouth around their mouth and blowing into them like a balloon.

Make sure their chest rises each time

Keep going – You are being a life support machine and keeping them alive.

When you push on the chest – you are being the heart

When you breath into them – you are being the lungs

Do not expect them to come back to life until the paramedics are there to help.

If there is an AED machine – USE IT!

It is strongly advised that parents attend a practical First Aid course to understand what to do in a medical emergency. Please visit www.firstaidforlife.org.uk for more information about our courses.

First Aid for life provides this information for guidance and it is not in any way a substitute for medical advice. First Aid for Life is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made, or actions taken based on this information.

First aid requirements for Schools

Recognising when something is seriously wrong

If your baby has a serious illness or accident it or accidentntly – njury at speed by a movin 50p piecedownis important to get medical attention as soon as possible. The following symptoms should always be treated as serious:

• A high-pitched, weak or continuous cry.
• A lack of responsiveness, lethargy or floppiness.
• In babies, a bulging fontanel (the soft spot on a baby’s head).
• Not drinking for more than eight hours (taking solid food is not as important).
• A temperature of over 38°C if your baby is less than three months old or over 39°C if your baby is three to six months old or a raised temperature that you are unable to bring down.
• A high temperature, but cold feet and hands.
• Fits, convulsions or seizures.
• Turning blue, very pale, mottled or ashen.
• Difficulty breathing, fast breathing, grunting while breathing, or if your child is working hard to breathe, for example, sucking their stomach in under their ribs.
• Your baby or child is unusually drowsy, hard to wake up or doesn’t seem to know you.
• A spotty, purple-red rash anywhere on the body. (This could be a sign of meningitis.)
• Repeated vomiting or bile-stained (green) vomiting.

It can be difficult to know when to call an ambulance or go to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, but use the following as a guide.

Call an ambulance for your child if they:

• stop breathing;
• are struggling for breath (you may notice a sucking in under the ribcage);
• are unconscious or seem unaware of what’s going on;
• won’t wake up;
• Fall from a height or are hit at speed by a moving object;
• Have a major head injury;
• Have a severe burn larger than the size of a 50p piece;
• have a fit for the first time, even if they seem to recover;

Take your child to A&E if they:

• have a fever and are persistently lethargic despite taking paracetamol or ibuprofen;
• are having difficulty breathing (breathing fast or panting, or very wheezy);
• have severe abdominal pain;
• have a cut that won’t stop bleeding, is gaping open, or they have amputated a finger;
• have a leg or arm injury that means they can’t use the limb, or;
• have swallowed a poison or tablets;

Most importantly – trust your instincts. You know better than anyone what your child is usually like, so you’ll know what’s different or worrying.

Basic First Aid for Eye Injuries

Basic First Aid for Eye Injuries

Eye injuries can be terrifying for the injured person and anyone that has to give basic first aid care. The most important thing to remember is that basic first aid is used to stabilize the eye prior to going to the hospital. You should never attempt to remove foreign objects from an eye or perform any other treatment beyond basic first aid. Leave the detailed treatment to the professionals.

The thing that makes eye injuries so traumatic for the person trying to administer first aid is the distress that the injured individual is experiencing. It is hard to remain calm when someone is traumatized about his eye injury. But the best thing you can do is remain calm and apply basic treatment before heading to the hospital.

First Aid Supplies

Since you should never try to remove large foreign objects from someone’s eye, the last thing you want in an eye first aid kit is a pair of tweezers. Eyelashes and small debris can be washed out of an eye using a saline wash or warm water.

Your first aid kit should include a cold compress for several reasons. If something strikes a person in the eye, then the cold compress will reduce the swelling and the pain. Cold compresses also help reduce irritation that causes itching. It helps to reduce the itching especially on small cuts above the eye or if sand gets in someone’s eye.

Believe it or not, small paper cups are a necessary part of any eye injury first aid kit along with surgical tape. Anyone who gets a large object lodged in his eye, or needs the eye isolated to protect it on the way to the hospital, needs a small paper cup like a Dixie cup over the eye. The cup prevents you from having to place direct pressure on the eye which could make the damage worse, and protects the eye from irritating debris. The surgical tape is used to hold the cup in place.

Protective Eye Equipment

The most common form of eye protection is the use of soft, vinyl protective goggles. These goggles have a hard protective covering on the front and ventilation holes in the side of the goggles to prevent the front from steaming up. The soft, vinyl goggles are the best because they sit away from your eyes and have a better chance of absorbing a nail or other projectile while still protecting your eyes. Goggles that sit like glasses on your face and are often too close to your eyes to offer comprehensive protection.

If goggles are uncomfortable for you, then consider using a protective shield. It is made of hard plastic to protect the eyes, but it covers your entire face as opposed to just your eyes. Many people find shields more comfortable to wear than goggles and appreciate the fact that shields protect the rest of your face from flying debris as well.

Common Eye Injuries

Blunt Force

People often think of punch in the face when blunt force to the eye is mentioned. But blunt force can come from a broom or rake handle that you step on, a tree branch that you walked into or a plastic child’s toy that was thrown at your eye. While the conditions may seem amusing, the results are not. People take blunt force blows to the eye more frequently that you would imagine, and they can become serious injuries.

The first thing to do in the case of a blow to the eye is put a cold compress on the eye. If there is blood or obvious damage to the eye, then get to a hospital immediately.

Let the cold compress sit on the eye for a minute or two and then re-assess the situation. If the person cannot see out of the eye, or the eye is swelling up quickly, then put the compress back over the eye and get to the hospital. If the cold compress has helped the swelling and the person can see out of his eye, then he will have a nice shiner for a few weeks but he should be fine. The eye should still be looked at by a professional as soon as possible to make sure there is no permanent damage.

Cuts to the Eyelid

People working in a kitchen can make a movement that gives them a cut directly on the eyelid. Small children playing with sand in a sandbox or at the beach can rub sand in their eyes and cut their eyelid as well as grind sand into the eye. The simple act of passing someone a piece of paper can swipe across the eye at the wrong angle and cut the eyelid.

With cuts to the eyelid, it is important to follow the right first aid procedure to ensure that the person does not sustain any further damage. The most important thing to remember is that you should never apply pressure to the eye or the eyelid in this situation. If there is something stuck in the eyelid that caused the cut, then you will push that object deeper into the eye. You could also tear the eyelid if you apply pressure.

The best thing to do is to cover the eye with a small paper cup to prevent bacteria or debris from getting into the cut and get medical assistance immediately. This is an injury that only a professional should deal with to prevent further injury.

Chemicals in the Eye

Someone using household cleaning chemicals could rub their eye and get those chemicals in their eye. It is a common situation that requires quick action to prevent long-term damage to the eye.

If someone gets chemicals in their eye, wash the eye immediately with warm water or a saline eye wash and then get the person to the hospital. Do not put anything over the eye as that could just agitate the chemicals even more. If the chemicals have made the person sensitive to light, then cover his head with a towel before taking him to the hospital.

Symptoms

People scream in agonizing pain for a variety of injuries. That is why a reaction to pain is not a symptom to use when trying to determine if someone has an eye injury. Each eye injury is different, but they all display a similar set of symptoms that you should watch for.

The common symptoms of an eye injury are visual trauma to the eye, swelling of the eye, sensitivity to light, a persistent burning of the eyes, a constant watering of one or both eyes and impaired vision. If you see these symptoms, then you know it is time to put your new-found eye first aid abilities into action.

Written by Sara Reynolds from TravelInsurance.org.

http://www.travelinsurance.org/basic-first-aid-for-eye-injuries/

Practical First Aid Training is the best way to learn how to save someone’s life. 

First Aid for Life show you how to save a life -watch us in action now!

British Heart Foundation says ‘no kissing, just hard CPR’ -

but children and those collapsed due to drowning or a breathing problem need rescue breaths as well!

Vinnie Jones demonstrates CPR in the British Heart Foundation advert

The British Heart Foundation is urging people to forget “mouth-to-mouth” and to concentrate on chest compressions when performing CPR.

“Hands-only CPR” has previously been supported by the Resuscitation Council (UK).

But it is now being promoted in a new advertising campaign featuring footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones.

New polling by the BHF suggests many feel worried about the idea of giving the “kiss of life”.

The official position of the BHF is now that anyone who does not have CPR training should ignore the kiss of life in favour of hard and fast compressions in the centre of the chest.

A new poll conducted across the UK and involving 2,000 respondents showed nearly half were put off from performing CPR because of a lack of knowledge.

A fifth worried specifically about the thought of the kiss of life or about contracting an infectious disease.

Four in 10 people were worried about being sued if they did something wrong, even though the BHF argues no such case has ever succeeded in Britain.

“The kiss of life can often be daunting for untrained bystanders who want to help when someone has collapsed with a cardiac arrest,” said Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the BHF.

She said the kiss of life remained the “gold standard” of CPR, but added if a person had not had training the best option would be to just do chest compressions.

Bee Gees hit

The BHF is also suggesting people hum to the Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive, to get the tempo of chest compressions right, although others have in recent months questioned whether this is appropriate, suggesting it may lead to compressions which are too shallow.

The new BHF advert features Vinnie Jones in his traditional hardman guise, administering chest compressions to a Bee Gees backbeat after being thrown an unconscious body by his henchmen.

Commenting on the new campaign, he said: “There really shouldn’t be any messing about when it comes to CPR. If you’re worried about the kiss of life just forget it and push hard and fast in the centre of the chest.

“Hands-only CPR should give have-a-go heroes the confidence to step in and help when somebody is in cardiac arrest.”

Ms Mason said everyone should learn what to do: “Thirty thousand people have a cardiac arrest in the UK every single year and half of those are witnessed, but in most cases no-one acts, no-one knows what to do, people panic.

“If it was us, we would all want our loved ones and ourselves to be saved, wouldn’t we?”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16222183