Providing first aid to children: theory and practice to the International Children’s Day

01/ 06/ 2023

Every year on the first day of summer we celebrate International Childrens Day. On this occasion, on June 1, 2023, the Southern Ukrainian office of the European Business Association organized a training lecture Providing first aid to children. At the event, we talked about the legal aspect of providing pre-medical care to children, algorithms for recognizing emergency conditions in children, providing help in case of sudden cardiac arrest using a defibrillator. Also touched on the topics of helping children with loss of consciousness, trauma, drowning, insect bites, etc. In particular, if you saw a child in an unconscious state, you must: Check the safety at the scene (whether there are threats to life and health, victims and witnesses); Check consciousness (call the child, gently shake or pat on the shoulder, if there is consciousness, ask what happened). Here there can be two options for the development of the event - if there is consciousness and breathing, and if there is no consciousness, then breathing is also absent. Next, you need to call for help, and in the meantime, open the airway and check the childs breathing. The airways are opened by raising the lower jaw. On average, a child makes 4 exhalations in 10 seconds. After that, call 103/112 and report the number of victims, the approximate age of the victim, the state of consciousness and breathing, the address and your phone number. We remember that the dispatcher ends the conversation first. If there is no consciousness and, accordingly, no breathing, proceed to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. To do this, we take 5 breaths. So, children under 1 year of age perform mouth-to-nose breathing, children over one year of age perform mouth-to-mouth breathing. Then we do 15 compressions in the absence of breathing and two breaths. If consciousness is still absent, but breathing has appeared - we transfer the child to a lateral stable position and wait for an ambulance. If the condition remains critical and there is no breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is performed using an automatic external defibrillator. To do this, the device should be turned on, all metal objects should be removed from/around the victim and the skin should be wiped dry, the electrodes should be connected to the defibrillator, the electrodes should be glued to the chest of the victim and the discharge should be performed. * The above-mentioned tips are the recommendations of the European Resuscitation Council in accordance with the standards of providing emergency medical care on the basis of PBLS (pediatric basic life support) requirements. We would like to thank the invited speaker and trainer - Oleksandr Hotsuliak, a pediatric surgeon, medical director of the SAR training center, for the theoretical and practical advice that can help preserve the health and lives of children! After all, every child has the right to be protected, to develop and study for a better future of our country.

Every year on the first day of summer we celebrate International Children’s Day.

On this occasion, on June 1, 2023, the Southern Ukrainian office of the European Business Association organized a training lecture “Providing first aid to children”. At the event, we talked about the legal aspect of providing pre-medical care to children, algorithms for recognizing emergency conditions in children, providing help in case of sudden cardiac arrest using a defibrillator. Also touched on the topics of helping children with loss of consciousness, trauma, drowning, insect bites, etc.

In particular, if you saw a child in an unconscious state, you must:

Check the safety at the scene (whether there are threats to life and health, victims and witnesses);
Check consciousness (call the child, gently shake or pat on the shoulder, if there is consciousness, ask what happened). Here there can be two options for the development of the event – if there is consciousness and breathing, and if there is no consciousness, then breathing is also absent.
Next, you need to call for help, and in the meantime, open the airway and check the child’s breathing. The airways are opened by raising the lower jaw. On average, a child makes 4 exhalations in 10 seconds.
After that, call 103/112 and report the number of victims, the approximate age of the victim, the state of consciousness and breathing, the address and your phone number. We remember that the dispatcher ends the conversation first.
If there is no consciousness and, accordingly, no breathing, proceed to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. To do this, we take 5 breaths. So, children under 1 year of age perform mouth-to-nose breathing, children over one year of age perform mouth-to-mouth breathing. Then we do 15 compressions in the absence of breathing and two breaths. If consciousness is still absent, but breathing has appeared – we transfer the child to a lateral stable position and wait for an ambulance.
If the condition remains critical and there is no breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is performed using an automatic external defibrillator. To do this, the device should be turned on, all metal objects should be removed from/around the victim and the skin should be wiped dry, the electrodes should be connected to the defibrillator, the electrodes should be glued to the chest of the victim and the discharge should be performed.

* The above-mentioned tips are the recommendations of the European Resuscitation Council in accordance with the standards of providing emergency medical care on the basis of PBLS (pediatric basic life support) requirements.

We would like to thank the invited speaker and trainer – Oleksandr Hotsuliak, a pediatric surgeon, medical director of the “SAR” training center, for the theoretical and practical advice that can help preserve the health and lives of children! After all, every child has the right to be protected, to develop and study for a better future of our country.