First Aid for Cuts in Kids

Unfortunately, children’s life is quite often interspersed with getting cuts and shedding blood – they fall or cut themselves when handling objects with sharp blades (knives, scissors, etc.). Minor cuts can be attended to at home, but if the cut is long, deep, or gaping, a professional should be brought in.

Your actions

In case the cut is pretty bad and requires serious treatment, and you have some time before an ambulance arrives, there are some things you can do to facilitate the healing:

• Wash gently or rinse the cut (wound), then use a bandage, some sterile gauze, or any clean cloth to press on it.
• Raise the wounded area – it should make the bleeding slower.
• If the bandage gets soaked with blood, apply another bandage on top of the soaked one and go on pressing it down.
• Once bleeding has ceased, take away the initial bandage and apply a clean one.
• Don’t use a tourniquet.

Call in medical help if:

• The cut goes deep and/or the skin is drawn apart too wide.
• Bleeding or oozing doesn’t cease after you press on the cut for a while.
• The skin is broken by a bite of an animal or a human, there is a deep puncture like one made by a nail, the skin is burned or the child sustained an electric shock.

Dial 911 immediately if

• A part of the child’s body is cut off. Act quickly. Put the severed part into a plastic bag, seal it and place the bag in the freezer or a container with cold water/ice.
• Bleeding from the cut won’t stop, blood is coming in gushes or spurts.
• Bleeding is so copious that bandages soak up very quickly.

You can prevent this

• Make your house childproof, lessening the chance for your toddler to fall, bump into hard surfaces or sharp objects, and get hit by moving doors.
• Don’t allow your children to run outside barefooted.
• When your children are handling things like knives or scissors, keep a close watch on them.