As a parent, any bump, fall, or bruise can cause both you and your child to have a major freak out. But just because there’s a lot of screaming and crying, and even if there’s blood, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to rush to urgent care.
Severe symptoms of a pediatric emergency:
1) Severe mechanism of trauma (fall from height)
2) Limb, head or body deformity
3) Excessive bleeding (bleeding does not stop, bleeding occurs through nose, ears etc, coughing up blood, vomiting blood)
4) Excessive bruising
5) Passing out
6) Mental changes, lethargy, decreased level of consciousness or persistent crying
7) Shortness of breath, high pitched breathing or using abdominal muscles to help with breath
8) Blue skin, blue color around mouth
9) High fever greater than 102 at any age, or any fever less than six months old
10) Purplish spot rash, or any rapidly developing rash
11) Mouth, lip or tongue swelling
10) Excessive vomiting or diarrhea or poor oral intake causing dehydration
If your child displays any of the symptoms above, seek emergency medical treatment IMMEDIATELY.
See additional guidelines on how to identify a pediatric emergency, and treatment suggestions in this article from CNN.
