Learn first aid for a baby or child who has a burn
Learn first aid for a baby or child who has a burn
One injury that is particularly common in babies and children is burns and 12 October marks National Burn Awareness Day 2022. While it’s often more manageable to prevent burns in a childcare setting than in the home, it’s still essential to know how to act quickly should a little one in your care ever have one.
Little ones are naturally inquisitive, and their sensitive skin means burns can affect them more seriously than adults. Even something as simple as a hot drink left unattended can be a significant risk to a child – in fact hot drinks are the number one cause of scalds to the under-fives (RoSPA).
Why not share this advice with parents too. Here’s how to help if a child has a burn:
1. Cool the burn under cold running water for at least 20 minutes.
Cooling the burn will reduce pain, swelling and the risk of scarring. The sooner and longer a burn is cooled with cold running water, the less the impact of the injury.
2. After the burn has been cooled, cover it with cling film or a clean plastic bag.
This helps prevent infection by keeping the area clean. Cling film or plastic won’t stick to the burn and will reduce pain by keeping air from the skin’s surface
3. Call 999 if necessary.
Call 999 or get someone else to do it while you continue to cool the burn.
You should always seek medical advice – or advise parents or carers to do so - for a baby or child who has been burned.
Blended Paediatric First Aid training
As demand has increased for more flexible ways of learning, we are now offering Blended Paediatric First Aid training, combines the benefits of online and face-to-face training to qualify you as a paediatric first aider.
The information in this article is provided by the British Red Cross and does not represent Morton Michel.