No matter how much you try to protect your child, at some point or another, you’re likely to experience a health emergency involving them. Whether it be a broken tooth from being hit in the mouth by a baseball, or a serious burn from a hot stove, accidents requiring emergency medical care come in all shapes and sizes.
The important part of any emergency you experience, though, is how you react. The right reaction plays an important role in helping reduce your child’s fear, and can even prevent the emergency from becoming more serious.
Prepare Yourself
Long before an emergency arises, you need to be prepared to handle an emergency quickly and effectively. Know where the nearest E.R. is, have the poison control number readily available, and understand what your options are for dealing with dental emergencies.
Also, understand life-saving first aid including the Heimlich maneuver, CPR, rescue breathing, and any other techniques that you can use to assist your child before you reach the hospital.
Additionally, you need to know where you can drop off your other children, what you need to take with you, and understand any allergies your child might have. Knowing what to do before an emergency happens prevents a lot of scrambling and lost time when one actually does occur.
Stay Calm
While you might be an absolute mess inside, putting on a brave, calm exterior is crucial to helping your child relax in order to prevent further complications. Planning and preparing in advance is one great way to be able to stay calm in an emergency, but no matter how prepared you are, you will still have to remember to consciously tell yourself to stay calm and focused when an emergency actually occurs.
Staying calm also keeps your other children calm, making it more likely they’ll be able to assist you if you should need them to, and can even help the EMS responders focus more effectively. You don’t have to fake happiness or put a smile on your face, just handle things with a level head and a calm attitude, and the outcome is likely to be much more positive.
Notify the Provider that You Are Coming
Unless you encounter an emergency that requires transport by ambulance, the medical professionals will have no idea you’re on your way unless you tell them. Calling to let them know you’re on your way allows them to prepare for your arrival, so your child can be attended to as soon as you arrive.
This is especially important in the case of dental emergencies, since most emergency dental offices don’t stay on high alert like regular emergency rooms. Advance notice to an Alameda, Texas dentist or one in your particular area could make all the difference when it comes to achieving satisfactory results.
Listen Well
Once you arrive at the hospital, it’s important to continue to stay calm and focused. You will likely need to answer a lot of questions to aid in your child’s care, and being able to answer them quickly and correctly is crucial for providers to be able to provide effective care. Listen to what the doctors and nurses are telling you, and if you don’t understand why they’re doing something, don’t be afraid to ask.
Be an advocate for your child who, even if coherent, might not understand what’s happening well enough to know the right questions to ask. As the emergency subsides, continue to listen well, both to your child to ensure their recovery is going well, and to the care providers who will be telling you information you need to know to assist your child after you leave the hospital.
Moving On
Even after the emergency has passed and the recovery is complete, your child may still have issues relating to the trauma of the emergency event. Help them cope with these issues by talking with them and asking good questions to ensure they are doing well. This will help you recover as well since when you see your child progressing, you feel greater confidence that they are going to be just fine.
