Car Accident (ER)

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  Car
Accident (ER)		 Emily Halevy | CWK Network
 
 
“You
can just imagine his little body just banging around inside the
van that rolled four times. If he hadn’t been restrained
it could have been a terrible outcome.”

–

Dr. Lonnie King, emergency pediatrics, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
  Related Information What Parents Need To Know Resources

 

Four-year-old Kevin Kulp was riding in a van with
his babysitter when a semi ran them off the road. The van flipped
four times.

Kevin has a bump on his head and hasn’t been
acting normal since. “He’s been complaining of a headache
all day since we left the hospital,” explains his mom, Cheryl
Kulp, “he has slept the entire day. I called his regular
doctor and she said to bring him straight here.”

“Children don’t complain of headaches
unless they have pain,” says Dr. Lonnie King of Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta, “and so when a child that doesn’t
usually complain of a headache-after an injury, that’s a
cause for concern.”

The doctor looks for signs of a skull fracture. Everything
looks normal, but he orders a CT scan to be sure. “[The neurologists]
are looking for a skull fracture, they’re looking for blood
on the surface of the brain, or bruising of the brain, or bleeding
inside the brain,” explains Dr. King.

In less than an hour the results are back, “The
cat scan was fine,” Dr. King says. “We found a normal
brain. He had no skull fracture and he had no signs of any brain
injury on the cat scan.

Kevin was lucky, but that’s not what may have
saved his life. “He was in a seatbelt, in a booster seat
the way he was supposed to be restrained,” explains Dr. King, “That’s
what was the biggest thing that saved him from having any head
injury. You can imagine his little body just banging around inside
the van that rolled four times. If he hadn’t been restrained
it could have been a terrible outcome.”

And as for the headache, it seems like it’s
just about gone. “You ready to go home?” asks Dr. King. “Yeah,” replies
Kevin.
By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

According to a study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
83 percent of families give up on booster seats by age 4 and switch to adult
seat belts, which can be deadly for a child that age. In fact, the researchers
found that more than 90 percent of children aged 4 to 8 who were seriously
injured in an accident weren’t using a booster seat. Children in that
age group are also four times more likely to suffer a serious head injury while
being restrained in a seat belt rather than a booster seat.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that
children generally outgrow convertible child safety seats when they
weigh 40 pounds and stand 4 feet 9 inches tall. At this point, they
should be placed in belt-positioning booster seats, which raise children
so that the vehicle lap and shoulder belts are properly positioned
across their chests and hips. Plus, booster seats offer children
better visibility and comfort.

If your child is ready for a booster seat, it’s time to find
the most suitable type for him or her. The American Academy of Pediatrics
cites the following booster seat models from which you can choose.
Your choice will depend on your vehicle’s make and model:

  • Backless, which can be used in vehicles with high seat backs
    and head rests
  • High back, which is recommended for use in vehicles without
    head restraints or head rests
  • Combination child seat/booster seat,
    which can be used with its built-in harness until your child
    weighs 40 pounds, and without the harness as a belt-positioning
    booster seat from 41 to 80 pounds or more, depending on the manufacturer’s
    instructions
 
By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

For many parents, getting their children to stay in a booster
seat until the recommended age of 8 is a difficult task. Some children complain
of feeling trapped and embarrassed, eventually wearing down their parents’ insistence
that they remain in a booster seat. As a parent, you must remind yourself that
although your child doesn’t like sitting in the booster seat, it is for
his or her own safety. You can, however, try several tactics to help your child
cope with his or her new seating situation. The experts at Parents magazine
offer the following tips for curbing your child’s reluctance to use the
booster seat:

  • Get a cool design. Manufacturers are increasingly trying to make
    booster seats look different from car seats by, for example, giving
    the fabric a military-fatigue style that boys might like or using
    sleeker-looking materials.
  • Push comfort. Show your child how a regular seat belt doesn’t
    fit well. Point out the way the belt rubs his or her neck or how
    he or she has to slouch to make his or her legs feel comfortable.
    Explain that a booster is designed just for him or her.
  • Point out the view. By lifting your child up off the seat, a booster
    allows him or her to see out the window better.
  • Invoke safety. Without getting too graphic about the potential
    dangers, tell your child that you want him or her to be as safe as
    possible when riding in a vehicle.
  • Don’t negotiate. Compare the use of a booster seat to other
    non-negotiable safety measures, such as wearing a bike helmet.

How can you determine when your child is ready to graduate from a
booster seat to a safety belt alone? According to the National
SAFE KIDS Campaign, children should ride in boosters until the vehicle
safety belts fit correctly:

  • Your child can sit all the way back against the vehicle seat,
    with knees bent comfortably over the edge.
  • The lap belt remains snugly across the bony areas of the lower
    hips/upper thighs (not the soft abdomen).
  • The shoulder belt remains snugly positioned across the chest and
    collarbone.

If any of these criteria are not met, it is likely that your child
needs to remain in a belt-positioning booster seat.

 
Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta
Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta Emergency Services
Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
American Academy of Pediatrics
Parents
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
 

Car Accidents Trauma

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Education Feature

Car Accidents Trauma

By Yvette J. Brown
CWK Network

 
“What may be a traumatic event for one person may not
be for another person.”
-Psychologist Kirven Weekley, who says parents may underestimate how much their child is affected by a seemingly minor car accident.-

A year ago. 18-year-old Megan Tribble was stopped at a red light.

“And the car behind me came up and hit me really hard,” she says.

She wasn’t injured. but for weeks afterwards.

“I was always afraid someone was going to hit me every time I stopped. And then I had a bad dream that someone hit me.”

In fact, the psychological effects of car accidents may even get worse over time.

According to a British study of 86 children involved in car accidents. 15 percent of kids showed signs of post traumatic stress two weeks after the accident.. the number grew to 25 percent after 3 months!

“Some parents don’t want to, they want the child to quickly get over it. ‘Get over it, it’s o-k, everything’s fine’, because to the parent, or other adults, everything is fine,” says Psychiatrist Kirven Weekley, Ph.D.

Experts say minimizing what a child is feeling – may actually cause the trauma linger, or grow worse!

“Because that will cause the child to try to suppress it even more, rather than sort of bring it out into the open and allow those natural processes. to heal,” says Dr. Weekley.

Instead, she says, parents should encourage the child to talk about their fears.

And let them know, it’s normal.

“That they may dream about it, they may think about it, or they may avoid things that are similar or associated with the trauma,” says Weekley.

Megan and her mom talked openly after the accident.and. after a few weeks. she was less afraid.

Still, she was surprised such a small accident could have such a big effect.

“Really surprised, because I wasn’t hurt or anything. I didn’t think it would be that big a deal. but it really was,” says Tribble.

 
Related
Information

Automobile accidents are beginning to be taken more seriously as a main cause of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Studies have shown that automobile accidents are the leading cause of traumatic stress among men in the United States and the second leading cause among women. The results of those studies are especially staggering when recent numbers – thirteen percent of all accidents involved drivers under the age of 20 – are taken into account.

 

The effects and definitions of stress differ from one individual to another. An event that might cause an extreme amount of anxiety in one person may not affect another person at all. As parents, it is important to distinguish your child’s daily life hassles from actual stress. According to experts, stress in children is usually caused by:

  • New, unfamiliar or unpredictable situations
  • Unclear expectations
  • Expectations of something unpleasant
  • Fear of failure (socially or academically)
  • Major developmental hurdles (moving from elementary to middle school, leaving home, etc.)

Children usually find ways to cope with everyday stresses like waiting in lines, changes in the daily routine or family conflicts. Major stresses, however, such as automobile accidents or loss of loved ones, are generally harder to get over. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to be attentive to the stresses being experienced by their children. Research from the University of Northern Colorado has shown a number of ways to help with this process.

  • Listen to your child when he or she describes stressful events or situations. Being a good listener will reassure your child that you are there with love and support. Moreover, it will help you to better understand how you can help.
  • Teach your child good problem-solving skills. The feeling that we have too much to do in the amount of time available to us is a frequent cause of stress. Help your child learn to break big problems into smaller ones that can be dealt with one at a time. Talk with them about how you have handled stressful situations.
  • Rehearse stressful situations. If speaking in front of a group or making a phone call to an adult is a cause for stress, it can be helpful to talk through the event with your child.
  • Be aware of “irrational thinking” patterns. Sometimes you may overhear your child “thinking aloud” with sentences like “I have to get this done or my friends are going to be mad,” or “If I don’t do this extra assignment, I’ll never get into college.” If you become aware of harmful beliefs, help your child look at life, and him or herself, more realistically and more positively.

Use relaxation techniques. A frequently-used visualization technique is that of relaxing, and then imagining oneself in a “favorite place” – a place that is warm and inviting, comfortable and beautiful. Relaxation techniques are useful for diminishing the feeling of stress, but they do little to keep stress from reoccurring. Relaxation can be especially effective when used in conjunction with the rehearsal of a stressful situation before it occurs. Some children might need professional assistance to learn effective relaxation techniques.

 

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
National Anxiety Foundation