Sample summary of children's safety and first aid experience

Based on my 3 years of volunteer experience in community child safety science popularization and my practical experience in handling 12 sudden accidental injuries to young children, ordinary parents can avoid more than 80% of the risk of accidental injuries to children as long as they master the three core principles of "priority prevention, hierarchical treatment, and no blind rescue." The efficiency of handling emergencies is about 70% higher than waiting for 120, and there is no need to have a professional medical background to do it.

What I encountered in the community square last month still scares me now when I think about it: 3-year-old Haohao swallowed half a piece of jelly and got stuck in his throat. His face turned purple from holding it in. His grandma hugged him and patted him hard on the back. After patting him for half a minute, he couldn't even make a sound. I rushed forward and pressed with the Heimlich maneuver for less than 10 seconds, and the jelly spurted out. When I burst out crying, my palms were all sweaty. It should be mentioned here that the current pediatric first aid community actually has different views on how to deal with foreign objects stuck in the throat: one group advocates performing Heimlich as soon as the throat is confirmed to be stuck, while the other group believes that if the child can still vocalize and cry normally, it means that the foreign object has not completely blocked the airway. Instead, do not blindly slap the back or squeeze to prevent the foreign object from shifting and getting stuck deeper. I personally prefer the latter. I have encountered cases where the baby was still able to speak after being picked up by melon seeds, but the parents just patted it and it got stuck in the bronchus. In the end, they had to do a fiberoptic bronchoscopy.

Don't think that these things are far away from you. In the past three years of my science popularization, I have encountered fifty or sixty cases of foreign objects stuck in the throat, burns, and bleeding due to bumps, almost all of which occurred at home or in the community. Many parents' understanding of first aid is still "send to the hospital when something happens". Last time in the community, a child broke his forehead while running, and blood flowed down his face. The father hugged the baby and ran to the door of the community. He ran more than 100 meters to the car, and the seat was covered in blood. In fact, as long as you find a clean sterile gauze and press the wound for about 5 minutes, you can basically stop the bleeding. Shaking it while running will speed up blood circulation and cause greater bleeding. Later, the doctor also said that fortunately the wound was not deep. If it had hit an artery, something serious could have happened within a few minutes of running.

Speaking of prevention, when I was doing science popularization in the past, I often met two extreme parents: one is the "all-inclusive" type who wraps all the corners in the house with foam, seals all the sockets, and locks even the fruit knife in the safe. They feel that they need to nip all risks in the bud.； The other type is the "free-range" school, which says that children only gain memory by bumping into each other, and they don't do any protection. I think both of these ideas are a bit wrong: you hide all dangers, and your child will be more vulnerable to injury when he goes to kindergarten without these protections. ； But just not doing anything works. I have seen free-range parents who let their 2-year-old children get hot water cups by themselves, and ended up burning their entire arms and leaving scars. When I was raising my baby, I touched his little hand with a cup filled with 40-degree warm water and told him that the steaming cup would hurt. Now that he sees me boiling water, he will hide far away, which is more effective than me chasing him behind him and shouting a hundred times.

To be honest, when I first started volunteering, I memorized the first aid manual by heart. I clearly remembered the steps for each situation. When I first encountered a baby with a stuck throat, my mind went blank and I forgot all the steps. I just remembered "Don't pat the back and press the two fingers above the belly button." Instead, it became a problem. Many parents learn first aid like memorizing knowledge points before an exam. They memorize everything so well that their minds go blank in the exam room. In fact, it is completely unnecessary. They just focus on the core points: First, if a foreign object is stuck in the throat, if the baby cannot make a sound, use Heimlich ； Second, for small-area burns, immediately rinse with running water at room temperature for 15 minutes. Do not apply toothpaste or soy sauce. Oh, there is also controversy here. A few burn doctors believe that if it is a large-scale deep burn, do not rinse directly with running water to avoid infection. Cover it with clean sterile gauze and send it to the hospital. ； Third, if there is bleeding due to bumping, use clean gauze to hold it down. Don’t rub it or run around. As for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, don’t do it blindly without systematic training. I’ve seen parents perform CPR on their fainted children before and their ribs were broken, which only made things worse.

After doing science popularization for three years, my biggest feeling is that child safety has never been about pursuing "zero risk", and first aid is not a universal magic skill. Don't make this matter too complicated, and don't take it completely seriously. Be sure to wait for 3 seconds beforehand. If you can handle it, just follow what you have learned. If you are not sure, call 120 immediately. Guarding this line is better than anything else.