Childhood Convulsions

In this weeks first aid tip, we would like to cover something that is close to home for us at NFTI. As we are all parents here, some of us just recently, we know how scary it would be if suddenly our child started convulsing.

So this week we would like to cover Childhood Convulsions.

What is it?   A seizure… looks similar to epilepsy.

A childhood convulsion (also called a febrile convulsion) is one of the scariest things you will ever see as a parent or a carer.   But the important thing is that the convulsion is NOT DANGEROUS (but the temperature, or the condition that caused it, might be).

What causes them???

The seizure is brought on by a rapid change in temperature, NOT a high temp as most people believe.   Huh?   Well, lets imagine taking a cold glass out of the fridge, and putting it straight under the hot water tap.   What would happen?…The glass would crack because the temperature change is too quick to handle.   Well, in young children (usually under 6 years), sometimes the temp climbs too quickly, the body cannot cope, and that causes the seizure.   So, why does the child get hot?   Firstly, when we get sick, our temperature often rises.   That slows us down (we often go to bed) so the body can fight the bug.   Secondly, the higher temps’s often kill the bug.   But a young child sometimes doesn’t have accurate control over the body’s thermostat.   If the child gets too hot, too quickly, something has to give…and they can have a seizure.

What do they look like?

SCARY!!!

Eyes rolled back or squinting, with arched spine or head thrown back, often with shaking and convulsing, and sometimes foaming at the mouth or moaning.   Tightly clenched fists, often with flushed face and fever.

What do we do?

STAY CALM (yeah right!)

After the convulsion finishes, roll them on their side, strip off their clothing to let them air cool.   DO NOT SPONGE THEM DOWN as cooling them down too quickly may cause another seizure.

Contact your doctor or ambulance for advice.   Give medication only if told to do so by doctor or ambo.

REMEMBER:   the convulsion is NOT dangerous, but the condition could be…always seek medical advice.

 We hope this gives you a insight into how Childhood Convulsions work and that they are not as scary as they look.

We hope you all have a Great Easter Break and in our next blog we are going to look at the differences between Anapens & Epipens.

The NFTI Team

Changes to CPR!

Welcome to National First Aid's Blog. We will be keeping you updated with First Aid Tips and new updates from the Australian Resuscitation Council.

At the end of 2010, The Australian Resuscitation Council(ARC) and ILCOR (International Liaison committee on Resuscitation) met in Portugal to discuss any changes needed to CPR.

Below is what the came out with and the new changes have come into affect in January 2011.
You can also see these changes and any other ARC guidelines on their website http://www.resus.org.au/

The changes that have been made are: New step "S" for Send for Help and 2 INITIAL Rescue breaths have been removed. The ARC also states that is rescuers are Unwilling or unable to perform rescue breathing with CPR, then Chest compressions only may be given.
So the Basic Life Support Chart now looks like this:
D - Check for DANGER -is there a danger to you or the casualty?
R-  Check for a Response -Are they responsive
S-  Send for Help - Call an ambulance on 000 or 112
A - Check their Airway - Is it Open and Clear?
B- Check for Breathing - Are they breathing effectively? (If they are unconscious and breathing they must be rolled on their side into the recovery position
C- Commence CPR - 30 compressions and 2 breaths
D-Attach an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) if one is available and follow the prompts.

For anyone reading this, we sincerely hope you never have to do CPR.  However if the life of a family member or friend is at stake, then the flow chart above may help you save their life.

So that's it for today. If there are any topics you would like to know more about, let us know and we can do a post about it for you.

The NFTI Team