Accidents can happen anywhere including in and around your home. As a parent, it is important to know what to do when accidents happen to your child so you can take the correct and immediate action. Read on to find out the steps given by the American Academy of Paediatrics.​

Stings, Bites & Allergies

Stinging Insects:

1. Remove the stinger as soon as possible with a scraping motion using a firm item (such as the edge of a credit card).
2. Put a cold compress on the bite to relieve the pain.
3. If trouble breathing; fainting; swelling of lips, face, or throat; or hives over the entire body occurs, call 999.
4. For hives in a small area, nausea, or vomiting, call the paediatrician.

Animal or Human Bites:

1. Wash the wound well with soap and water.
2. Call the paediatrician.

Ticks:

1. Use tweezers or your fingers to grasp as close as possible to the head of the tick and briskly pull the tick away from where it is attached.
2. Call the paediatrician if the child develops symptoms such as a rash or fever.

Snake Bites:

1. Take the child to an emergency department if you are unsure of the type of snake or if you are concerned that the snake may be poisonous.
2. Keep the child at rest.
3. Do not apply ice.
4. Loosely splint the injured area and keep it at rest, positioned at or slightly below the level of the heart.
5. Identify the snake if you can do so safely.
6. If you are not able to identify the snake but are able to kill it safely, take it with you to the emergency department for identification.

Allergy:

1. Swelling, problems breathing, and paleness may be signs of severe allergy. Call 999.
2. Some people may have emergency medicine for these times. If possible, ask about emergency medicine they may have and help them administer it if necessary.

Fever

Call the paediatrician right away if the child has a temperature of 38°C and:

• Appears very ill, is unusually drowsy, or is very fussy
• Has other symptoms such as a stiff neck, a severe ­headache, severe sore throat, severe ear pain, an ­unexplained rash, repeated vomiting or diarrhoea, or breathing difficulty
• Has a condition causing immune suppression (such as sickle cell disease, cancer, or chronic steroid use)
• Has had a first seizure but is no longer seizing
• Is younger than 3 months (12 weeks) and has a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher
• Has been in a very hot place, such as an overheated car

To make the child more comfortable, dress him in light clothing, give him cool liquids to drink, and keep him calm.

Skin Wounds

Bruises:

1. Apply cool compresses.
2. Call the paediatrician if the child has a crush injury, large bruises, continued pain, or swelling.

Cuts:

1. Rinse small cuts with water until clean.
2. Use direct pressure with a clean cloth to stop bleeding and hold in place for 1 to 2 minutes.
3. If the cut is not deep, apply an antibiotic ointment; then cover the cut with a clean ­bandage.
4. Call the paediatrician or seek emergency care for large or deep cuts, or if the wound is wide open. For major bleeding, call for 999.
5. Continue direct pressure with a clean cloth until help arrives.

Scrapes:

1. Rinse with clean, running tap water for at least 5 minutes to remove dirt and germs.
2. Do not use detergents, alcohol, or peroxide.
3. Apply an antibiotic ointment and a bandage that will not stick to the wound.

Splinters:

1. Remove small splinters with tweezers; then wash until clean.
2. If you cannot remove the splinter ­completely, call the paediatrician.

Puncture Wounds:

1. Do not remove large objects (such as a knife or stick) from a wound. Call 999.
2. Call the paediatrician for all puncture wounds.

Bleeding:

1. Apply pressure with gauze over the bleeding area for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. If still bleeding, add more gauze and apply pressure for another 5 minutes.
3. You can also wrap an elastic ­bandage firmly over gauze and apply pressure.
4. If bleeding ­continues, call 999.

Eye Injuries

1. If anything is splashed in the eye, flush gently with water for at least 15 minutes.
2. Call the paediatrician for further advice. Any injured or painful eye should be seen by a doctor.
3. Do NOT touch or rub an injured eye. Do NOT apply medicine. Do NOT remove objects stuck in the eye.
4. Cover the painful or injured eye with a paper cup or eye shield until you can get medical help.

Fractures & Sprains

1. If an injured area is painful, swollen, or deformed, or if motion causes pain, wrap it in a towel or soft cloth and make a splint with cardboard or other firm material to hold the arm or leg in place.
2. Do not try to straighten.
3. Apply ice or a cool compress wrapped in a thin cloth for not more than 20 minutes.
4. Call the paediatrician or seek emergency care.
5. If there is a break in the skin near the fracture or if you can see the bone, cover the area with a clean bandage, make a splint as described above, and seek emergency care.
6. If the foot or hand below the injured part is cold or discoloured (blue or pale), seek emergency care.

Burns & Scalds

General Treatment:

1. Remove the child from contact with hot water or a hot object.
2. If clothing is burning, smother flames.
3. Remove clothing unless it is firmly stuck to the skin.
4. Run cool water over burned skin until the pain stops.
5. Do not apply ice, butter, grease, medicine, or ointment.

Burns with Blisters:

1. Do not break the blisters.
2. Ask the paediatrician how to cover the burn.
3. For burns on the face, hands, feet, or genitals, seek emergency care.

Large or Deep Burns:

1. Call 999 or your local emergency number.
2. After stopping and cooling the burn, keep the child warm with a clean sheet covered with a blanket until help arrives.

Electrical Burns:

1. Disconnect electrical power.
2. If the child is still in contact with an electrical source, do NOT touch the child with bare hands.
3. Pull the child away from the power source with an object that does not conduct electricity (such as a wooden broom handle) only after the power is turned off.
4. ALL electrical burns need to be seen by a doctor.

Nosebleeds

1. Keep the child in a sitting position with the head tilted slightly forward.
2. Apply firm, steady pressure to both nostrils by squeezing them between your thumb and index finger for 5 minutes.
3. If bleeding continues or is very heavy, call the paediatrician or seek emergency care.

Teeth

Baby Teeth:

If knocked out or broken, apply clean gauze to control bleeding and call the paediatric or family dentist.

Permanent Teeth:

1. If knocked out, handle the tooth by the top and not the root (the part that would be in the gum).
2. If dirty, rinse gently without scrubbing or touching the root.
3. Do not use any cleansers.
4. Use cold running water or milk.
5. Place the tooth in egg white or coconut water or, if those are unavailable, milk, saline solution (1 teaspoon of table salt added to 8 ounces of water), or water, and transport the tooth with the child when seeking emergency care.
6. If the tooth is broken, save the pieces in milk.
7. Stop bleeding using gauze or a cotton ball in the tooth socket and have the child bite down.
8. Call and go directly to the paediatric or family dentist or an emergency department.

Convulsions, Seizures

1. If the child is breathing, lay her on her side to prevent ­choking.
2. Call 999 or your local emergency number for a prolonged seizure (more than 5 minutes).
3. Make sure the child is safe from objects that could injure her.
4. Be sure to protect her head.
5. Do not put anything in the child’s mouth.
6. Loosen any tight clothing.
7. Start rescue breathing if the child is blue or not breathing.

Head Injuries

1. DO NOT MOVE A CHILD WHO MAY HAVE A SERIOUS HEAD, NECK, OR BACK INJURY.
2. Call 999 or your local emergency number right away if the child:

• Loses consciousness
• Has a seizure (convulsion)
• Experiences clumsiness or inability to move any body part
• Has oozing of blood or watery fluid from ears or nose
• Has abnormal speech or behaviour

3. Call the paediatrician for a child with a head injury and any of the following symptoms:

• Drowsiness
• Difficulty being awakened
• Persistent headache or vomiting

Poisons

Swallowed Poisons:

1. Any non-food substance is a potential poison.
2. Do not give anything by mouth or induce vomiting.
3. Call 999 and try to have the substance label or name available when you call.

Fumes, Gases, or Smoke:

1. Get the child into fresh air and call 999, the fire department, or your local emergency number.
2. If the child is not breathing, start CPR and continue until help arrives.

Skin Exposure:

1. If acids, lye, pesticides, chemicals, poisonous plants, or any potentially poisonous substance comes in contact with a child’s skin, eyes, or hair, brush off any residual material while wearing rubber gloves, if possible.
2. Remove contaminated clothing.
3. Wash skin, eyes, or hair with a large amount of water or mild soap and water.
4. Do not scrub. Call 999 for further advice.
5. If a child is unconscious, becoming drowsy, having convulsions, or having trouble breathing, call 999 or your local emergency number.
6. Bring the poisonous substance (safely contained) with you to the hospital.

Fainting

1. Check the child’s airway and breathing.
2. If necessary, call 999 and begin rescue breathing and CPR.
3. If vomiting has occurred, turn the child onto one side to prevent choking. Elevate the feet above the level of the heart (about 12 inches).

Safety is Choo Choo Train’s main priority. Our staff are trained to follow a standard operating procedure to minimize and prevent the need for first aid. But accidents are bound to happen, and when it occurs, we use the guide above to treat children.