When To Take Your Child to the Emergency Room
When your child has an accident or sudden illness, do you call the pediatrician, dial 911 or head straight to the nearest emergency room? Most parents haven't thought this through in advance - but they should. If you see any of these warning signs in your child, we urge you to take action.
Warning signs that demand action
- Fainting, loss of consciousness, seizure or convulsion
- Fever (temperature > 100.4) in any infant
- Rapid or difficult breathing, visibly using chest and abdominal muscles to breathe
- Sudden dizziness, weakness or change in vision
- Change in mental status such as confusion or difficulty waking
- Severe or persistent vomiting or vomiting blood
- Severe or persistent diarrhea or blood in stools
- Vomiting and/or diarrhea with dry lips or mouth and/or decreased urination
- Profuse bleeding or bleeding that won't stop with direct pressure after 15 minutes
- Wounds to head or hands
- A gaping wound with edges that don't come together
- Problems with movement or sensation after an injury
- A stiff neck associated with fever or headache
- A red/purple rash that doesn't disappear when brief fingertip pressure is applied to the skin
- A bulging or abnormally depressed fontanel (soft spot) in infants
- Sudden severe pain anywhere in the body
- Falls from any significant height
- Accidents involving pedestrians or bicycles and cars
What should you do?
- If possible, talk to your physician and follow his/her advice.
- If the situation is severe, or your child isn't responsive or can't be roused, call 911.
- If the child's condition seems life-threatening or could become so before you can reach the hospital, call 911.
- Otherwise, head for the nearest Emergency Room - and find out where it is ahead of time.
Be ready BEFORE an emergency happens
- Talk to your physician about accident prevention and emergency care.
- Take courses in CPR and first aid.
- Tape a list of the Warning Signs above to your refrigerator, along with a map and directions to your nearest Emergency Room.
- Print and fill out a Children's Emergency Consent Form to leave with your babysitter or other caregiver.
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