Summary of children’s safety and first aid experience

Children's safety protection always takes precedence over learning first aid skills, and the truly useful family first aid ability is never about how many knowledge points you have memorized, but the combination of "pre-risk screening + standardized skill mastery + flexible scenario response". There is no universal formula, nor can it all rely on fragmented content found online.

I happened to encounter something when I was on duty in the community last month: Sister Zhang’s 2-year-old baby, who lives in Building 3, got stuck in his throat after eating jelly. She had seen a short video of Heimlich before, so she held the baby and pressed it hard on her stomach. As a result, the baby was still crying, but after two pressures, her face turned purple from holding it in. Fortunately, a social welfare nurse happened to pass by, and she quickly changed to the back-slapping and chest-pressing method for young children. After the third blow, the whole jelly vomited out. Later, the nurse said that Sister Zhang used the abdominal impact technique for children over 6 years old and even adults. The thorax of young children is not fully developed. If the force is not well controlled, it is easy to break the ribs, injure the internal organs, and cause new injuries.

When talking about this, some people may think that it must be because she is not professional. If she masters all the first aid skills, she will be fine. In fact, there have always been two extreme views on child safety and first aid in the parent circle, and no one can convince the other: One is the "first aid omnipotent theory", which believes that as long as the Heimlich, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bandaging and hemostasis, and fracture fixation are all practiced to muscle memory, nothing will happen to the child. They can hold it in their pockets and want to practice operating it with a medical simulator every day; the other school is the "prevention and control omnipotent theory", which believes that as long as all sources of risk in the home are cleaned, the sharp corners are wrapped, the sockets are plugged, and the hot water bottle is locked in the cabinet, the child will have no chance of being injured. Learning first aid is a waste of time and worry.

I have also been on the "prevention and control omnipotent" team before. I cleaned all the countertops in the house that were taller than my baby. I couldn't even find a coin. Until the day my baby just learned to walk, he stepped on his own small dining chair to reach the place I put at the bottom of the dining table. There was a lighter in front of him. When I rushed over to grab it, he had already pressed the switch several times, and his back instantly went cold. You wouldn’t have thought that your baby would develop some weird climbing postures. You can’t just tie him to your waistband and keep an eye on him 24 hours a day, right? Later, I took my child to the amusement park, and he was fighting for the slide with a child and fell down and broke his chin. I can’t ask the amusement park to cover all facilities with 3 cm thick sponge, right?

But I have also stepped into the pitfall of "first aid is one-size-fits-all". Last summer, my baby knocked over the lemonade I had just poured, and the back of her hand turned red. My mother was about to apply toothpaste on it, saying that the cold liquid would relieve the pain. Fortunately, I had just taken a social welfare first aid class, so I quickly stopped her and held her under the faucet and rinsed her with cold water for 15 minutes. Then I applied burn ointment and wrapped it with sterile gauze. Later, I went to the hospital for a review and the doctor said that the treatment was done correctly and there was no scar left. But later I talked with the pediatrician in the emergency department and found out that this "15 minutes of cold water" is not a panacea. If the burn area is larger than the size of the baby's hand, you cannot shower with cold water for a long time. Otherwise, it will easily lead to the risk of hypothermia. Simply rinse it with clean gauze and send it to the hospital immediately. This is a detail that has not been mentioned in any short popular science videos I have seen before. There is also the popular saying "If a baby has a febrile convulsion, stuff something into his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue." I believed this until I met a parent last year. When the baby had a convulsion, she forced her finger into the baby's mouth, and the baby bit her until it bled. Later, the doctor said it was not necessary. Just lay the baby on its side and empty the food residue from the mouth to prevent choking. Most convulsions will stop on their own in 3-5 minutes. Pushing something into the baby's mouth can easily cause suffocation or oral injury.

To be honest, I was very anxious in the past two years. I was always afraid that I would miss some first aid knowledge and be unable to save my baby in case of an accident. I had a drawer full of first aid manuals and instructional videos. The first aid kit at home was more complete than the social welfare kit, including styptic powder, elastic bandages, and various types of band-aids. As a result, the last time I took my baby to play in a country park, he was stung by a bee and half of his face was swollen. I searched through the first aid kit for ten minutes but couldn't find loratadine. Then I remembered that I took out the medicine when I took my baby to a picnic last time, threw it in the armrest box of the car after use, and forgot to refill it. Later, I set an alarm clock for the last day of each month, and organized the first aid kit specifically. Throw away expired medicines and replenish used ones. Commonly used burn ointments, iodophors, and anti-allergic medicines were placed in the outermost compartment. It is really easy to reach out when something happens, which is better than stuffing many useless things.

I was chatting with Dr. Li from the Pediatric Care Department a while ago, and I particularly agree with what he said: Most ordinary parents don’t need to master complicated first aid skills at all. It is enough to understand three things: first, the treatment methods of foreign objects stuck in throats of different age groups, second, the basic treatment principles of abrasions and burns, and third, the emergency points of febrile seizures and severe allergies. If you really encounter a situation where you are not sure, call 120 as soon as possible to clarify the location and symptoms, and don’t force yourself to operate blindly. This is better than anything else.

Now I will not force myself to memorize the entire "Children's First Aid Handbook". I go to the social welfare public first aid class for refresher training once a year to practice several commonly used operating techniques. I have saved several core processing steps in the memo on my mobile phone. When you are so panicked that your hands are shaking, take it out first and take a look. Pay more attention at ordinary times and put hot water, medicines, and sharp objects out of the baby's reach. If possible, there will be fewer accidents. If an accident does happen, don't mess up. It is better to follow the rules than to be blind. After all, there is nothing foolproof about raising a baby. It's just a matter of paying more attention, learning more reliable knowledge, and the rest is to calm down.