Increased cases of child drowning, burns and poisoning during Tet, experts show first aid

GĐXH - During Tet, there are continuous activities of parties, eating, and playing, while adults are often busy and do not closely supervise, causing children to encounter many unfortunate situations that can even be life-threatening.

According to doctors, every time the Lunar New Year approaches, the rate of children having dangerous accidents such as falling, burns, choking on foreign objects, choking on incense oil, drowning and other accidents often increases significantly.

Notably, according to information from the National Children's Hospital, the Emergency and Poison Control Department of the Hospital recently received 3 serious drowning cases. All 3 children were not given proper first aid by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions, but were instead carried upside down and run. As a result, the children were admitted to the hospital in critical condition, with respiratory and circulatory failure.

Doctors take care of a child with burns. Photo: BVCC.

The cause of the drowning was due to children playing without adult supervision and falling into Koi ponds, rice fields, ponds and lakes. After intensive resuscitation with mechanical ventilation, hemodynamic stabilization, antibiotics and active hypothermia to protect the brain, the children's health was stable. However, the children still need to be monitored for neurological sequelae.

In addition to cases of drowning, doctors at the National Children's Hospital also received a number of children who had traffic accidents and burns and had to be hospitalized for emergency treatment. Accordingly, on January 15, 2025, an 8-year-old boy from Nam Dinh was walking on the street when he was unfortunately involved in a collision with a motorbike.

After the accident, the child had a headache, was irritable, had swelling in the jaw and face, and had many injuries on his body. The child was taken by his family to the provincial hospital for first aid, then transferred to the Emergency and Poison Control Department - National Children's Hospital for intensive treatment.

Here, after being examined and having paraclinical tests, the doctors diagnosed the child with a traumatic brain injury due to a traffic accident, along with many skin lacerations, swelling in the forehead, shoulders, arms and mild bruising in the chest. After the doctors treated the wound and applied active treatment measures, the child recovered and was discharged from the hospital.

Also during this time, doctors at the Burn Unit - Orthopedics Department received and treated a boy (12 years old, in Hanoi) who suffered from second and third degree boiling water burns in many areas of the body, including: head, neck, shoulders, chest on both sides and right forearm. Previously, the child was unfortunately burned while bathing himself with a shower at home.

Immediately after discovering the incident, the family quickly took the child to the emergency room. The child's wounds were treated by doctors and the wound was taken care of and bandaged daily. After a week of treatment, the child is now stable and can be discharged in the next 1-2 days.

How to prevent accidents for children during Tet

According to Dr. Nguyen Tan Hung - Deputy Head of the Department of Emergency and Poison Control, National Children's Hospital, every year, on the days before Tet, the Department of Emergency and Poison Control receives many cases of accidents and injuries in children. These accidents can be burns, broken bones, skin wounds, poisoning, choking on foreign objects, etc.

The main reason is that children do not have the ability to protect themselves. Especially for children living in big cities, when they return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet with their families in rural areas, there are many new environments with many strange things for children and also more risks such as ponds, lakes, trees, etc. Meanwhile, adults are busy and neglect, do not closely supervise, causing children to encounter many unfortunate situations that endanger their health and lives.

To ensure a safe Tet holiday, experts recommend that parents should take precautions against common accidents in children such as: drowning, electric shock, burns, firecrackers, choking on foreign objects, chemical poisoning, food poisoning, CO poisoning due to coal heating, falls, traffic accidents, etc. At the same time, parents also need to equip themselves with proper first aid skills when children have accidents in life.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/gia-tang-tre-bi-duoi-nuoc-bong-va-ngo-doc-trong-dip-tet-chuyen-gia-chi-cach-so-cuu-dung-de-kip-thoi-cuu-con-172250121102500529.htm