Yesterday, while reading the news of a Scottish marriage that had saved your baby's life after applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuversI thought once again how necessary it is for all parents to take a pediatric first aid course.
Knowing what to do or how to handle our children in certain emergency situations, only gives us greater peace of mind, but can save their lives at a given time. That's why these parents wanted to share their story to raise awareness of other families of the importance of learning first aid.
He breathed again thanks to CPR maneuvers
Little Ruaridh, only eight months old, had just woken up from his nap when he began to feel bad. His mother put the thermometer thinking he had a fever, but since his temperature was normal he decided to sit on his high chair to give him the snack.
But suddenly, the baby began to experience respiratory distress so they quickly called an ambulance while they were helping him.
After verifying that the boy had stopped breathing, his father checked his airways thinking that he was drowning with something, and once discarded this motive He lay on the floor and began to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers I had learned months ago in a first aid course.
"His lips began to turn blue. I was doing chest compressions for a minute and a half, then took a deep breath and then vomited. And from that moment he began to breathe normally" - explained his father, Alec Brown to The Independent newspaper .
When the ambulance arrived, he transferred the boy to the Glasgow hospital, where he was admitted for three days. There the doctors diagnosed him with a viral infection and determined that CPR maneuvers had been key to saving his life.
Therefore, aware of the importance of his performance, Alec wanted to share his story and encourage all parents to take a first aid course where cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers are also taught.
"We did the course because we live in a fairly isolated area, and we thought it important to have this knowledge"
"While you do the CPR maneuvers you get a lot of bad thoughts in your head, but in those moments you don't feel anything. At the moment when my son started crying, it was when the reality of what had happened hit me head on."
My experience with my three and a half year old son
Shortly after becoming parents for the first time, My husband and I decided to take a pediatric first aid course. They were two intensive days of theory and practice taught by medical professionals, but what we learned there was key to face one of the most terrible moments I remember living.
When my son was three and a half years old, he choked on a piece of meat while eating. I remember it and my legs still shake, and I still think about how I was able to react the way I did.
I quickly realized that something was happening when my little one he put his hands to his throat in anguish and began to emit drowned sounds, almost imperceptible. I lifted him from the chair quickly and, standing behind him, I practiced the Heimlich maneuver. It did not take more than two abdominal compressions so that the piece of meat that had remained lodged in its throat was shot with the force of a projectile.
And at that moment, we both started to cry. He was frightened by what had happened, and I collapsed on the floor, legs shaking like a flan and the sequence of what we had lived going through my head again and again.
I am sure that without the first aid course we had done a while ago, I would not have been able to react correctly, and like Ruaridh's parents, I also strongly recommend doing so.
It is common for hospitals, centers of the Red Cross or private health clinics to teach this type of courses. My advice is to take a course in pediatric first aid, which although it can also be applied to adults, we will study certain situations more typical of childhood.
With this we will not only learn to perform CPR or Heimlich maneuvers, but also to treat wounds, burns, fractures, bites or animal bites, namely to act against a heat stroke, trauma or hypoglycemia, what to do in a crisis convulsive, or something as basic as knowing how to prepare an emergency kit.
And you, Have you ever done a pediatric first aid course? Have you had to apply your knowledge at some time?
Via The Independent
In Babies and More Resuscitation Maneuvers: a pending subject in schools, What to do when a child chokes (video), First aid for parents: should we be more prepared ?, What to do in case of emergency? Practical guide to first aid for parents, Febrile seizure: or when you think your child is life in your arms
