Preschool safety and first aid

Prevention is better than rescue, and rescue must be adapted. All prevention and control measures must be in line with the cognitive and physiological characteristics of children aged 3-6 years old. First aid operations must not copy adult standards. Preventive prevention and control can solve more than 90% of safety risks. The remaining 10% of accidents must be handled without panic, without moving, and with timely connection with medical resources.

I have been a public health nurse in public kindergartens for 8 years, and I have seen no less than a hundred accidents, big and small. To be honest, most of the accidents were caused by parents or teachers who were lucky enough to think that "children will not be so naughty." The scenes that are most likely to cause problems are actually not the outdoor running and jumping that everyone thinks, but the quiet indoor table activity time - children secretly point the tips of the small scissors in the art area at people, or stuff magnetic beads or small marbles hidden in their pockets into their mouths, and they can cause danger when adults turn their heads. Last month, I encountered a child in primary school who swallowed a plastic bead. Fortunately, it was round and smooth, and it was excreted with the stool. It would be troublesome if the child swallowed magnetic beads. Last year, a child in the next district swallowed three magnetic beads. They were sucked together in the intestines and perforated. He had to stay in a hospital for half a month.

Oh, yes, there is still a very controversial point about the safety education of preschool children. Two groups of experts have been arguing for several years: One group is the proactive education group, which believes that starting from the age of 3, it is necessary to repeatedly conduct scene drills, simulating lost situations, fires, and strangers striking up situations, to strengthen children’s awareness of self-protection.； The other group is the low-interference group, saying that over-drilling will cause unnecessary anxiety in children. I have encountered a child who did not even dare to accept the oranges given by a familiar security uncle in the community after anti-trafficking drills in other kindergartens. He hid behind his parents when he saw strangers on the street. My own experience of doing it for so many years is that there is really no need to engage in such high-profile drills. When eating or walking, I casually mention a few words, "Don't hold things in your mouth when running" and "Ask your parents first if you can take things from strangers." Children remember these random thoughts much better than the formal drill process.

If an accident happens unprepared, don’t panic. I have seen too many parents get weak in the legs when they see their children bleeding. In fact, most minor accidents can save a lot of trouble if they are handled correctly. Let’s talk about the most common nosebleed. Many old people still ask their children to raise their heads, saying that the blood will stop. This is wrong - if the head is raised, the blood will flow into the stomach, irritating the child to vomit, and it will be more troublesome. The correct way is to lower the head and pinch the hard places on both sides of the nose with your hands. It will basically stop after about 10 minutes. If the bleeding continues for more than 15 minutes, go to the hospital to check whether it is a blood coagulation problem. Oh, by the way, there is also a bumpy bag. Last time, a grandma picked up her grandson. When she saw the bump on her grandson's forehead, she raised her hand and started to rub it. She said that the swelling would go away after rubbing it, but be careful. The bump was bleeding under the skin. The more you rubbed it, the more bleeding occurred. Apply it with a cold towel or ice pack wrapped in cloth for about 10 minutes. If the child develops vomiting, drowsiness, or talking nonsense later, don't hesitate to go to the hospital for a CT scan, for fear of the risk of concussion.

Regarding the standards of first aid operations, professional guidelines are actually updated very quickly, such as the Heimlich maneuver. Now the guidelines of the Chinese Association of Pediatricians and the American Heart Association have made it clear that if a child under 1 year old has something stuck, he cannot directly press the belly. He must use 5 back slaps and 5 chest impacts alternately. Only conscious children can use abdominal thrusts, with the position two fingers across the navel, and the force is about one-third lighter than when used on adults. I met a teacher from another kindergarten in the past two years. She panicked when she saw a child with a date kernel stuck in it. She used the force used to press an adult, but the foreign body was not discharged and the child's ribs were cracked. For burns and scalds, don’t blindly apply toothpaste, soy sauce, or sesame oil. Rinse the wound with running cold water for at least 15 minutes. When rinsing, don’t rush into the wound. The water flow should be slower. Cut off the clothes near the wound. Don’t pull them hard. If the clothes are already stuck to the wound, leave them on. Go to the hospital and let the doctor handle it. If you tear it off by yourself, you will pull off the skin.

Oh, by the way, many parents ask, if they have cats and dogs at home, and their children are scratched and bitten, if the pets are vaccinated, do they not need to give the children rabies vaccines? To be honest, I advise you not to take this chance. As long as the skin is broken, no matter whether it is a domestic cat or a wild cat, a domestic dog or a wild dog, you should immediately wash it with soapy water for 15 minutes, and then go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get vaccinated. Last year, I met a parent who said that his cat was fine after being vaccinated, but the child delayed it for three days. During that time, the whole family was so scared that they could not sleep. It was completely unnecessary.

In fact, after working in our profession for a long time, we understand that there is no 100% safety, and there is no universal first aid formula. What we can do is to pay more attention at ordinary times, do not put small parts and sharp objects within the reach of children, learn more about first aid, and don’t panic if something happens. My biggest wish is that no one can use this first aid knowledge after learning it.