Accidents in the child - Christina Cherry

General

Injuries from accidents and trauma put is the most common cause of death among children (child emergencies) in Germany. There are approximately 2 million accidents with children in Germany each year. 24,000 inpatient hospital stays make this necessary, with 650 children on average getting help too late.

causes

The main causes of death in accidents are Traumatic brain injury, Chest trauma and bleeding. The most common accidents occur in road traffic. Often it is children running on the street or cars driving too fast that lead to serious injuries. Despite the tragedy of these processes, it is important to act and act as calmly, prudently and systematically as possible, as this significantly improves the chances of survival for children.

first aid

After a traumatic accident (child emergencies), the first aider should first alarm an emergency medical service, then the child from the Bring danger zone and secure vital functions. Securing vital functions includes artificial respiration (if the child is not breathing) and the heart massage (if no pulse can be felt). These measures must be carried out until the emergency services arrive at the scene of the accident. In contrast to primary care for adults, infants are only reanimated with the thumb or the palm of a hand (only one person is present, ratio) 15x heart pressure and 2x ventilation.
Also read: Resuscitation in the child

Medical staff will then continue the ventilation or cardiac massage, provide access and administer infusion solutions of various types before being transported to the clinic. A slogan in emergency medicine is: "Treat first what kill first" which means that the most dangerous things have to be dealt with first. Especially in children who suffer from a car accident in addition to passing out bone fractures etc. have suffered, care must first be taken to ensure the vital vital functions and e.g. To treat broken bones later. Children who are not passed out after an accident but are in shock pose a special risk because the so-called hypovolemic shock appears harmless at first, but can result in a dangerous, life-threatening situation. Hypovolemic shock manifests itself as cool and pale skin, agitation or loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, high pulse rate and rapid breathing. It can be caused either by increased blood loss or by a shock that causes the blood to centralize (the blood is directed only to the vital organs. Other organs are undersupplied). Immediate administration of liquid through the veins is important. The first aider can have a calming effect on the injured child. After accidents, there can also be a so-called pneumothorax in the child come, in which the lungs usually grumble on one side and so vital breast organs are impaired in their function. Here, the lungs should be immediately expanded again by chest drainage by the emergency doctor. Symptoms of pneumothorax include shortness of breath, loss of performance, and breathing noise above the corresponding side of the lungs.