Many parents seem to have an intuitive sense about their child’s health. Once the child is stable, move on to the secondary assessment to find out what happened, the child’s medical history and vital signs. Instead, walk into the room, quickly determine the chief complaint and attack it by immediately performing an assessment of the child’s airway, breathing, circulation and treating any life threats. If you obtain OPQRST and SAMPLE histories first, precious time can pass before you even begin to assess the patient. Since pediatric patients often can’t vocalize their chief complaint - or give a detailed history of their present illness or injury - don’t fall into the trap of walking into the room and delaying your primary assessment to get the full story from mom or dad. Dickson and Patrick review the pediatric general assessment triangle 3. This set of visual vital signs should give immediate clues about the need for rapid treatment and transport to the hospital.ĭrs. Do you hear any sounds from them breathing?.Is the child alert, agitated, sleepy or unresponsive in regards to their appearance?.Before you approach the patient, take a moment to look at their ABCs - appearance, breathing and circulation - from across the room. You should be able to form your general impression of the child from the door and determine if the child is sick or not sick. The first sign of shock is often a rapid heart rate and irritability, a drop in blood pressure is a late, ominous sign, and cardiac arrest is usually secondary to respiratory failure causing respiratory arrest. The temperature control mechanism on pediatric patients is also unstable and they dehydrate easier. Children also have less blood and are, therefore, in greater danger of developing shock or bleeding to death from a wound.Ĭhildren have larger tongues and smaller airways with more soft tissue, making them more susceptible to foreign body and airway obstructions. For example, a child’s head is larger in proportion to their body than an adult, which makes them more susceptible to trauma, especially after a fall. You should avoid thinking of pediatric patients as little adults and instead understand their anatomical differences. Always have a card, guide, or app with pediatric vital signs and drug dosages.
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