The domestic accidents they are, statistically, the most frequent risks in children from 0 to 6 years. For this reason, we are going to make a series of posts about the most common accidents, starting with the wounds.
The wounds are lesions of the skin (at least, although they can be deeper and affect other tissues) and if one of the most important functions of this is the protection against infections, it will be the greatest risk that we must take into account.
The first thing we will have to assess is the severity of the wound, to know if we should hurry to the hospital or heal it at home. The aspects that we should check for this first evaluation are the following: depth, extent, location, obvious dirt, foreign bodies or signs of infection. Of course, when in doubt, better go to the hospital.
If we consider it to be a minor injury, the steps to follow will be the following:
- We will clean our hands with soap and water first of all, to avoid germ transfer.
- We will clean the wound well with cold water (cold to facilitate vasoconstriction and stop bleeding) and if we observe any foreign body we must remove it with tweezers. It is convenient to have an unopened physiological serum canister at home (to ensure its sterility) and with a narrow neck to facilitate a fine stream that helps us to clean the wound perfectly.
- We will apply an antiseptic to finish eliminating the risk of infection and we can end up covering the wound with a sterile dressing so that it does not get dirty again.
For the antiseptic, up to 3-4 years nothing from Betadine because of the risk of high iodine concentration. Oxygenated water or chlorhexidine (crystalline) can be used, although if they have been open for a long time (more than three weeks) they lose their virtues, so it should be in low volume formats.
In case the edges of the wound do not close well or continue to bleed, you will have to approach the Emergency Department to assess the possibility of giving some points.
