Parents: when should you take your child to the emergency room?
When to go to emergencies
In the following cases (cited in the book Your baby day after day, Larousse), do not ask yourself questions and go to the emergency room:
- Falls and shocks: your child is "unconscious or has lost consciousness for just a few seconds, has a sore in the head, a big lump, has trouble moving one of its limbs, is vomiting or becomes unusually sleepy" or changes behavior in days after his fall.
- cuts: "you can not stop the haemorrhage of baby after 10 minutes of compression, you suspect the presence of a foreign body in the wound "or the latter is" very open ".
- Burns: the burn is "larger than the size of the palm of your hand baby/ located on the face, in the mouth on the hands or on the genital / electrical or chemical parts (take the chemical with you) ".
- Foreign bodies: "you have tried unsuccessfully to clean the surface of the eye, the object is stuck or stuck in the eye (in this case, do not try to remove it), the? he remains irritated even after the withdrawal of the object ", when thechild something in your ear or nose, "do not try to remove the object even if you see it, you could push it even further".
- Poisoning: if your child swallowed something toxic (liquid, berries ...) call 15, 18 or Poison Control Center * but do not try to induce vomiting. baby and never give him milk or any other drink while awaiting medical advice "and" prepare a sample of what he has ingested ".
- Suffering: "your baby can not breathe or cough, make funny noises or become blue ". It is essential that you learn what to do ** and what to avoid in order to be able to react as quickly as possible to free your airways.
In any case, Jean-Paul Lechien, creator and president of the Institute of Prevention of Domestic Accidents (Ipad), urges "not to improvise doctor: the most spectacular wounds are often the least serious while trauma causing symptoms that go unnoticed often have very serious consequences. " And to conclude that in case of doubt "the best is always to call the Samu (15), firefighters (18) or his doctor if the accident occurs during the day on weekdays, at least to have an opinion medical ". It is better to be reassured after a false alarm than to regret for life not to have been alarmed enough.
Good to know
- * Which list is here.
- ** To find a first aid training center near you, go to the Department of Civil Protection of the Prefecture of your department or the site of the French Federation of Rescue and First Aid (FFSS).
- The single European emergency number is 112 (free).
