Old Tracker
Forum Asst. Chief
- 504
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2030 dispatch notifies about a 3 1/2 year old boy who fell. His right eye struck something on the ground and the Dad could see that the object, possibly 1/16th of an inch or less, appeared to have penetrated the rt eyelid.
Parents brought child to the station and there was slight bleeding from the probably puncture in the eyelid, as well as a small amount of blood coming from the closed eye. Cleaned the blood off of the eye and managed to get the little bit that had seeped out from the closed eye cleaned up. The right eye was swollen to about the size of a walnut, and the eye was shut, the child was resting quietly in his mother's arms and was sleeping. Parents stated no loc.
All vital signs were in the normal range for a 3.5 yo, O2 was 99% on RA. An aircraft was available and we drove the 65 miles so the child and mother could be airlifted to a trauma center.
Enroute, about all I did was monitor the vitals and try to reassure the mother. Turned over pt and mother to aircrew and returned to station.
What else could I, a Basic, have done for this child? The idea of forcing the eye open was a non-starter, but I am wondering if I should have or if it would have done more harm than good. Thoughts were, the child was calm, the mother, holding the boy was nervous, if I open the eye and the eye is punctured, it is possible for the mother to lose it, and besides the cleaning and covering, there wouldn't have been much to do.
What did I miss, what else could/should I have done?
Parents brought child to the station and there was slight bleeding from the probably puncture in the eyelid, as well as a small amount of blood coming from the closed eye. Cleaned the blood off of the eye and managed to get the little bit that had seeped out from the closed eye cleaned up. The right eye was swollen to about the size of a walnut, and the eye was shut, the child was resting quietly in his mother's arms and was sleeping. Parents stated no loc.
All vital signs were in the normal range for a 3.5 yo, O2 was 99% on RA. An aircraft was available and we drove the 65 miles so the child and mother could be airlifted to a trauma center.
Enroute, about all I did was monitor the vitals and try to reassure the mother. Turned over pt and mother to aircrew and returned to station.
What else could I, a Basic, have done for this child? The idea of forcing the eye open was a non-starter, but I am wondering if I should have or if it would have done more harm than good. Thoughts were, the child was calm, the mother, holding the boy was nervous, if I open the eye and the eye is punctured, it is possible for the mother to lose it, and besides the cleaning and covering, there wouldn't have been much to do.
What did I miss, what else could/should I have done?