The long summer holiday is fast approaching. Get aboard for a rollercoaster of fun-filled days at the park; ear-bashing afternoons in the activity centre; boisterous play dates and sun-soaked trips abroad! Eight weeks of precious family time and memory making, exhausting but rewarding hard work… and total responsibility for your little ones from dawn to dusk… are you fully prepared?
It is natural to feel more vulnerable about accidents when holidaying abroad, but the reality is that by far the most common place for children to have an accident or become ill is in their own home! The most serious accidents are caused in the kitchen and 30,000 children are treated in A&E each year with signs of poisoning. If a child does consume a poisonous product, your immediate reaction might be to induce vomiting, but avoid this as the liquid will potentially burn the child’s throat when they vomit. Call an ambulance and keep the child seated – do not walk them around as this will make the heart pump faster and enable the poison to circulate the body quicker. Always take a sample of any vomit and the poison they swallowed to the hospital.