Child Emergencies
Module 7 — Child Emergencies
The emergencies that frighten parents most: choking, high fever, febrile seizures, anaphylaxis and breathing difficulty. What to do minute by minute — and the one thing never to do to a baby that you'd do to an adult.
Learning Material
8 pagesHook — The peanut on the living room rug
The peanut on the living room rug
Saturday evening. A bowl of peanuts on the coffee table. You're in the kitchen, your husband on the sofa, the TV on quietly.
Your 18-month-old toddles past the bowl and stops. Reaches up. Grabs a handful.
By the time you look round, she's gone very still in the middle of the rug. Mouth open. Eyes wide. No sound.
A coughing child is loud. A choking child is silent.
You know the sound of her crying. You know the sound of her laughing. This silence — this is the one you've never heard before, and it is the one that means act now.
You have about three minutes before the lack of oxygen starts to matter. You have about four to six before it becomes serious. You will not have time to Google this.
This module teaches you the moves that work on children, and the moves that do not work on babies. They are not the same.
The rule you have to know: under 1 year — back blows + chest thrusts. Never abdominal thrusts (Heimlich) on a baby.