First aid

If the brain is deprived of oxygen for more than five minutes, brain damage will result causing total physical and mental disabilities. The victim will be reduced to being a “vegetable’’.

Immediate intervention by giving the infant/child who had stopped breathing, two rescue breaths – that is, two puffs of our breath – before spending precious minutes to seek medical help can reduce this risk. The air that we breathe contains 21% oxygen and our body only takes up 25% of this inhaled air. Thus the air we exhale still contains about 16% oxygen which is sufficient to help the victim.
Events that necessitate CPR:

* Injuries
* Suffocation (caused by food, toys, plastic covers)
* Smoke inhalation (due to fire)

Whilst on the subject, the doctor added that sadly, some parents with little knowledge of first aid had inflicted more harm on their child while trying to help. For example, children with burns turned up in the emergency rooms with honey, butter, dark soya sauce and even toothpaste on their wounds.

The doctor said that the right thing to do when dealing with burns caused by steam, boiling water, hot oil, hot soups or fire is to cool the burnt area under running water and then cover with a clean, sterile cloth before seeking medical attention.

I used to be terrified at the sight of a bleeding child. When one of my sons cut himself, I would turn pale at the sight of blood.

However, after watching how a paediatric surgeon handled a minor surgery and stopped the bleeding, I am glad to say I no longer fear the sight of blood.

The right thing to do whenever there is any bleeding from cuts is to apply pressure with a clean, sterile cloth on the wound. Blood will stop oozing out after a while.

As parents we want to keep our children safe from harm and danger. But accidents do happen, and a little first aid knowledge can help greatly in an emergency.

Recently, I attended a course on cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for infants and children. It was conducted by a consultant paediatrician/neonatologist, who is also a certified neonatal resuscitation programme instructor and paediatric advanced life support instructor.

Many of us may think that CPR is something for medical personnel only. The truth is, CPR can be learnt by any of us under proper guidance.

I would like to share with parents some of the things I have learnt at the course. However, there are limitations here as certain things need to be learnt hands-on. For example, it is difficult to describe just how hard the chest compressions and back blows should be, or how fast should the cycle of breath and chest compressions be. It is best to get professional guidance on the proper application.

The Star Online > Features

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Giving First Aid

By CHAN LILIAN

As parents we need to be prepared to face all kinds of trying situations involving our little ones. But when it comes to first aid, how well-equipped are we? Or do we turn pale at the sight of blood? CHAN LILIAN shares with readers the importance of learning life-saving skills.

DURING the last school holidays, I was at the KLCC park with my three adventurous and boisterous boys. They had disappeared among the wide variety of monkey bars, slides, swings and mazes, while I was relaxing on a bench.

My carefree moment was suddenly shattered by shouts that drew my attention to an eight-year-old boy who was clutching one of his arms, obviously in pain. Apparently he had fallen from one of the monkey bars and fractured his arm.

His mother was in a state of panic and started dragging the boy, looking for his shoes, their bags and asking: “Where is the nearest hospital?” She ran – with her son in tow – to the car park which was quite a distance away.

Meanwhile, the poor boy was trying to use his other hand to straighten the fractured arm. As a mother, it breaks my heart to see the frightened little boy and his helpless mother in a state of panic and confusion.

Anyway, that incident jolted me into realising how ill-equipped I was to handle an emergency like that. Several years ago, my eldest son injured his toe in school. I was informed by the school authorities but I was too weak in the knees to even drive to school to see him! I had envisaged a bloodied white canvas shoe, a detached toe nail, raw flesh, bones sticking out and all that horrible, gory stuff.

Through the years, I have managed to overcome some of the fears and learnt to be a cool cucumber like my husband.

After handling so many cuts, bruises, injuries and even an attempt at CPR to revive my premature baby, I have learnt to be more knowledgeable, practical and calm.

After that incident at the KLCC park, I had the opportunity to ask my son’s paediatrician what should have been done in the boy’s case. He advised that the first thing to do was to immobilise the arm so that there was no movement to the wounded part to reduce further injuries due to bone fragments. In the absence of proper bandages, we could even use the child’s shirt or sweater for that purpose.