What Do To When Your Child Had Head Injury?
- Posted by MetropolisMom on May 18th, 2008 filed in First Aid For Kids and Infants
First evaluate the injury. Any of these signs indicate the need to call an ambulance:
Child was or is unconscious
No sign of breathing
Blood or clear watery fluids leaking from the ears or nose
Blurry or double vision
Unequally dilated pupils
Depression of the skull(run your hand over your child’s scalp in the area wher you think she took the blow.
If you notice any above signs but your child is breathing you need to have someone call for help. Do not move your child unless she is in a life-threatening situation to minimize movement of the head and spine. Place your hands on both side, do not align it; this could make the injury worse.
If she is bleeding from the scalp wound and the cut is not too deep, apply direct pressure with a clean cloth over the wound. If it is a deep cut, place fingers on top of cloth around site of wound and apply pressure.
If there are no signs:
If your child remains alert and awake after the incident, her color is normal, an there is no significant cut (one that is deep or bleeding heavily), she may have only a mild injury. Minor head injuries can be treated at home.
You need to wash the cut with soap and water, and apply cold compress to the site of injury.
Awaken your child once or twice during the first night after the injury.
Observe your child carefully for the next 24 to 48 hours. If she develps any of the following symptoms consult your pediatrician immediately:
Excessive sleepiness or lethargy during normal working hours, or cannot be awakened at night;
Headache that won’t go away
Repeated vomiting (more than once or twice)
Persistent or extremely irritability (in an infant this could indicate a severe headache)
Weakness of arms or legs, clumsy walking, slurred speech, crossed eyes, or difficulty with vision
Seizures or irregular breathing
Bruising or discoloration behind the ears and around the ears
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