Accidents in the child

General

Injuries caused by accidents and trauma are the most common cause of death among children (child emergencies) in Germany. There are around 2 million accidents a year with children in Germany. This makes 24,000 inpatient hospital stays necessary, with 650 children on average, all help comes too late.

causes

The main causes of death in accidents are Craniocerebral trauma, Chest trauma and bleeding. The most common accidents take place in road traffic. Often it is children running on the street or cars driving too fast that lead to seriously injurious collisions. Despite the tragedy of these processes, it is important to proceed and act as calmly, prudently and systematically as possible, as this significantly improves the chances of survival of children.

First aid

After a traumatic accident (child emergencies), the first aider should first alert an ambulance service, then take the child out of the danger zone and secure the vital functions. Securing the vital functions includes Ventilation (if the child is not breathing) and the heart massage (if no pulse can be felt). These measures must be carried out until the rescue service has arrived at the accident site. Unlike primary care for adults, infants are only resuscitated with the thumb or the ball of the hand (if only one person is present, ratio 15x heart pressure and 2x ventilation.
Also read: Resuscitation in the child

Medical staff will then continue ventilation or chest compressions, establish access points and administer various types of infusion solutions before they are transported to the clinic. A motto in emergency medicine is: "Treat first what kill first" which means that the most dangerous things must be dealt with first. Especially in children who are also unconscious as a result of a car accident Broken bones etc., care must be taken to first secure the vital functions necessary for life and e.g. To treat broken bones later. Children who are not unconscious after an accident but are in shock pose a particular risk, as the so-called hypovolemic shock appears harmless at first, but a dangerous, life-threatening situation can result from it. Hypovolemic shock includes cool and pale skin, agitation or loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, high pulse rate, and rapid breathing. It can arise either from increased blood loss or from a shock in which the blood is centralized (the blood is only directed to the vital organs. Other organs are undersupplied). It is important to give fluids immediately through the veins. The first aider can have a calming effect on the injured child. After an accident there can also be a so-called Pneumothorax in children, in whom the lungs usually constrict on one side and the function of vital breast organs is impaired. The emergency doctor should immediately re-inflate the lungs through a chest drain. Symptoms of a pneumothorax are shortness of breath, a drop in performance, and the sound of breathing over the corresponding side of the lung is canceled.