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.