Last week, the National Children's Hospital received 3 critical drowning cases, including 2 deaths. Notably, the situation of incorrect first aid by turning the drowning victim upside down and running away still occurs.
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| Incorrect first aid, 5-year-old boy drowned at resort swimming pool and died. (Illustration photo) |
The unfortunate death of a 5-year-old boy from Hai Duong is an example. Just because of a little carelessness, the child was left out of sight of adults and drowned at the resort swimming pool.
When pulled out, the child was cyanotic and not breathing. However, instead of being given CPR and chest compressions immediately, the child was carried upside down and run around for a few minutes before first aid was given.
The time from the time the child received emergency care until he arrived at the primary medical facility was about 30 minutes, after which the child was transferred to the National Children's Hospital (Hanoi). When he arrived at the Internal Medicine Intensive Care Unit, the child was in critical condition, in a deep coma, with dilated pupils.
Unfortunately, the child died a day after being admitted to the hospital despite intensive resuscitation measures. The cause of death was irreversible brain damage and multiple organ failure due to prolonged lack of oxygen.
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| Giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a child. (Source: National Children's Hospital) |
An 8-year-old boy (Bac Giang) was also given first aid incorrectly after a drowning accident, but fortunately he survived.
Before that, the child went out with 2 other children (9 years old and 12 years old) and fell into the fish pond. The child was pulled out a while later. At this time, it was not clear whether the child had stopped breathing or had a heart attack. We only knew that the child was purple. Everyone immediately carried the child and ran. It took about 10 minutes.
The child was then transferred to the district hospital in a comatose, cyanotic, gasping state, intubated and transferred to the provincial general hospital and then to the National Children's Hospital.
At the National Children's Hospital, the child was in a coma, had respiratory failure, and circulatory failure. The child was given emergency treatment, mechanical ventilation, hemodynamic stabilization, antibiotics, and active hypothermia to protect the brain.
After 5 days of treatment, the child was more alert, breathing on his own, and his respiration and hemodynamics were stable. However, the child still needed long-term treatment and monitoring for neurological sequelae due to prolonged brain hypoxia after drowning due to improper initial first aid treatment.
Proper first aid will be a chance for drowning children to survive. The maximum time the brain can withstand lack of oxygen is only about 4-5 minutes. If this time exceeds, it will lead to irreversible brain damage, causing death or neurological sequelae.
Therefore, when you see a drowning child who is unconscious, not breathing, or has stopped breathing, you need to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, chest compressions) immediately because this is the golden time to save the child's life.
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