Your Child's Health: The Parents' One-Stop Reference Guide to: Symptoms, Emergencies, Common Illnesses, Behavior Problems, and Healthy Development - Softcover

Schmitt, Barton D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553383698 ISBN 13: 9780553383690

Verlag: Random House Publishing Group, 2005

Inhaltsangabe

Emergencies:

--when to call your child's physician immediately

-what to do in case of burns, bites, stings, poisoning, choking, and injuries

Common Illnesses:

-when it's safe to treat your child at home

-step-by-step instructions on dealing with fever, infections, allergies, rashes, earaches, croup and other common ailments

Behavior Problems:

-proven strategies for colic, sleep disturbances, toilet training problems, thumbsucking, and the video game craze

-no-nonsense discipline techniques for biting, temper tantrums, sibling fighting, and school refusal

Health Promotion: From Birth Through Adolescence:

-essential advice on newborn baby care, nutrition, cholesterol testing, immunizations, and sex education

-ways of preventing spoiled children, picky eaters, overeating, tooth decay, accidents, and homework problems

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Barton D. Schmitt, MD, FAAP, is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and Director of the Sleep Disorder Clinic and Encopresis-Enuresis clinic at The Children's Hospital of Denver. He has written more than one-hundred articles for fellow pediatricians, as well as the book Pediatric Telephone Protocols and the computer software program The Pediatric Advisor, used by over four-hundred-and-fifty hospitals nationwide.

Dr. Schmitt has received numerous awards for his work, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Education Award in 2004. He and his wife spend as much time as possible with their children and 6 grandchildren.

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EMERGENCY TELEPHONE CALLS

Life-Threatening Emergencies

Dial 911 (Emergency Medical Services). In larger cities, this call will dispatch an emergency vehicle staffed by a rescue squad and based at the nearest fire department. In smaller towns and counties, the operator will connect you with an emergency ambulance service. The direct number for this service is usually found on the first page of your telephone directory. In areas that use 911, children should be taught to dial this number for crises. Increasingly, 911 is being linked to a computer system (“enhanced 911”) that can determine the address of the incoming call even if the caller can’t speak.

Non-Life-Threatening Emergencies

Call Your Child’s Physician. If you don’t have a physician, call the near- est emergency room. Always call in first, rather than simply going to an emergency room. Your physician may provide you with critical first aid instructions by phone (e.g., for burns, animal bites, or fractures). Your physician also can help you decide whether a rescue squad should be sent out or if it is safe for you to drive in. In addition, your physician can also tell you if it’s safe to be seen in the office or where to take your child for the best emergency care.

Poisoning

If you know the phone number of the nearest Poison Center, call them now. If not, call the National Poison Center hotline at 1-800-222-1222. They will automatically connect you with your local Poison Center.

How to Cut Through Red Tape

When you call in, always state assertively, “This is an emergency.” Do not let the answering service or receptionist put you on hold before talking with you. If you are put on hold, hang up and call back immediately.

EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION

Life-Threatening or Major Emergencies

Call your rescue squad (911) or ambulance service.

Definition of a Life-Threatening Emergency—Children who may need resuscitation en route (for instance, those with severe breathing difficulty, severe choking, or not breathing) require a 911 call. Other potentially life-threatening emergencies are persistent loss of consciousness (coma), continuing seizure, or bleeding that can’t be stopped by direct pressure. Children with major trauma or possible neck injury need splinting before transportation.

The Staff of Emergency Vehicles—Emergency vehicles are staffed by EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) or Paramedics. EMTs are trained in Basic Life Support: cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), splinting, bandaging, and so on. Paramedics are EMTs with additional training in Advanced Life Support: drawing blood, starting IVs, intubation, recording EKGs, and so on. EMTs receive 160 hours of training and Paramedics receive 1,200 hours. These pre-hospital care specialists are certified by their national associations. While providing emergency care, they are linked by two-way radio to an emergency room physician at their base hospital.

Rescue Squads Versus Ambulance Services—In larger cities, rescue squads are often available through local fire departments. Usually rescue squads can respond more rapidly than ambulances, and their service is free. After the patient’s condition has been stabilized, they will often call an ambulance company for transport to the hospital if it is warranted. In general the police do not transport sick people, so don’t call them for medical emergencies.

Non-Life-Threatening Emergencies

Go to the nearest hospital offering emergency services. Try to call your child’s physician first.

Definition of Less Severe Emergencies—These concern children who need to be seen as quickly as possible but whose condition is currently stable or at least does not pose a danger of suddenly needing resuscitation. Examples are poisonings, slow bleeding controlled by pressure, severe pain, and seizures that have stopped.

Advantage of Car over an Ambulance—A private car is quicker and less expensive than an ambulance. Another option is to call a taxi.

Driving in to Seek Emergency Care—If you are going by private car, don’t leave until you know the exact location of the emergency room you will be going to. It is a good idea to rehearse the drive by the fast- est route before an emergency occurs. Keep your sick child in a car safety seat. Try to have a friend or neighbor accompany you and do the driving. Some parents are too shaken by their child’s injury to drive safely.

What to Bring with You to the Emergency Room

•Your health insurance card

•Your child’s immunization record

•Your pharmacy’s telephone number

•Any medicines your child is taking (or a list of drugs and dosages)

•If your child has been poisoned, bring the container.

•If your child has passed blood in the urine, stool, or vomited material, bring a sample for testing.

•Your child’s security object or favorite toy

LIFE-THREATENING 911 SYMPTOMS

Every parent should learn how to identify life-threatening symptoms. You need to know in advance when to call 911 rather than trying to reach your doctor, and when it’s not safe to try to drive to the hospital. Then you will not make the tragic mistake of attempting to drive your seriously ill child to an emergency room only to have him/her stop breathing or go into shock on the way. If your child ever has any of the following symptoms, call Emergency Medical Services (911) immediately.

Severe Breathing Problems

•Breathing has stopped.

•Your child is choking and unable to breathe or is turning blue.

•Difficulty breathing follows a medicine, food, or bee sting (the concern is for severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis).

Severe Bleeding

•Blood is pumping or spurting from the wound.

•Blood is pouring out and can’t be stopped with direct pressure.

Severe Neck Injury

Try not to move your child until EMS arrives.

Seizure or Convulsion Now (hasn’t stopped)

Can’t Wake Up

Your child is unconscious (in a coma).

EMERGENCY SYMPTOMS

All the conditions discussed in this chapter are emergencies. The following emergency symptoms, however, are highlighted because they are either difficult to recognize or not considered serious by some parents. If your child has any of the following symptoms, contact your child’s physician immediately.

Sick Newborn

If your baby is less than one month old and looks or acts sick in any way, the problem could be serious (e.g., vomiting, cough, poor color).

Severe Lethargy

To be tired during an illness is normal, but if your child stares off into space, won’t smile, has no interest in playing, is too weak to cry, is floppy, or is hard to awaken, these are serious symptoms.

Severe Pain

If your child cries when you touch him or move him, this can be a symptom of meningitis. Such children also don’t want to be held. Constant screaming or the inability to sleep also points to severe pain.

Can’t Walk

If your child has learned to walk and then loses the ability to stand or walk, the most likely reason is that he or she has a serious injury to the legs or an acute problem with balance. If your child walks bent over, holding his abdomen, he probably has a serious abdominal problem such as appendicitis.

Tender Abdomen

Press on your child’s belly while he or she is sitting up in your lap and looking at a book. Normally you should be able to press an inch or so in with...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0553383698
• ISBN 13: 9780553383690
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 720
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland