Emergencies are frightening situations. Their unexpected nature makes them difficult to respond to, yet a little education and advanced planning can avert a disaster. Children will encounter emergencies, and despite their young age, they can save lives by simple actions. Don't wait until an emergency occurs to discuss these situations with your children and educate them about how to respond.
Discuss First Aid
The basics of first aid are simple and can be adapted to your children's age. Avoid going into detail, and be sure to have them show you what they have learned to ensure accuracy and deal with misunderstandings.
Gathering a group of your children's friends together for a fun time of learning together can facilitate a good environment and give them confidence in their new skills.
Make Believe
Acting out scenarios helps solidify a child's knowledge, and will allow him to respond quickly in a true emergency. Some concepts can be vague and alarming to children when discussed, and pretending in a make-believe situation can help remove their fear and give them confidence.
Briefly discuss how to respond in specific emergencies, then spend the majority of your time allowing the children to practice on dolls or teddy bears. If special medical conditions exist in your family (epilepsy, for example), review possible scenarios and how to respond.
Calling 911
The most important thing a child can do in an emergency is call 9-1-1 for help. Be sure your child knows how to use your phone, and which numbers to press. Prepare her for what the operator will ask, and tell her it's alright to give out information such as her location and name.
Make sure she understands to call 9-1-1 before she tries to help the person at all. Stress the importance of calling 9-1-1 only when it's life threatening: Someone won't respond even when she shakes him, someone has blood spurting out from a wound, or is choking and can't breathe.
Bleeding
Teach your child to apply direct pressure to a bleeding wound by taking a bandage, cloth or part of his clothes and pressing it firmly against the wound. Show him how to elevate a wound above the person's heart, and explain that this helps slow the bleeding.
Breathing and Chest Compressions
Depending on your child's age, you can teach the essential elements of mouth-to-mouth breathing and chest compressions. Show her how to watch someone's chest to see if she's breathing, and how to administer breaths. Show her how to check for a pulse and perform chest compressions. Find meaningful ways for your child to remember the ratio (two breaths to 30 chest compressions). Use discretion in giving this information to your child, and assess her ability to understand and apply it.
