Accidents of any kind are not fun. Especially if those accidents involve our kids and (ugh) blood. I have unfortunately had to deal with an incident involving blood before, but nothing to the level of what I experienced before Christmas this year. Not fun. Also not fun to try and stay calm knowing that is what you are supposed to do, but inside you are freaking out and every once in awhile it starts to leak out just a bit, which makes the emergency personnel tell you to calm down. Which, if you are like me, makes you a bit mad. So, I thought I would share our experience with some tips on what to do if you are in a similar situation. There are one or two things I wish I had known beforehand!
As they do every night before bed, my little one's were watching their "shows" in my bed before they headed off to their own room for the night. The point is that they are supposed to be settling down, but I certainly am not one to stop the giggles as long as they are happy ones! I knew something was wrong the second I heard a thump and then my son going "oh no, oh no, oh no I am so sorry I am so sorry!" He sounded more frantic then his usual "I am afraid you are going to tell on me" kind of I'm sorry. So he came rushing out to tell us in a very long-winded way that our daughter had fallen off the bed while they were playing airplane (where she puts her belly on his feet). She was crying but nothing too extreme. My husband picked her up and rubbed her head like any parent would do when their kiddo gets a bump on the noggin, and pulled his hand away to reveal a HUGE amount of blood (if you have ever had a child with a head wound, you know what I mean. If you haven't, just hope you never do). We weren't sure what to do, so he put her down and I kind of pushed her hair away when I saw it gushing out. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to get her in the car and drive to the ER by myself with her. I also didn't know exactly how bad it was...it looked like I could stick my pinkie all the way into it.
So, we called 911. Unfortunately I couldn't find the cordless so I had to call from the corded phone in my bedroom. All I knew was that my husband was yelling at me to get them here fast because she just bled through another towel. At this point the 911 dispatcher told me my first bit of must know information. With a head wound, or ANY wound bleeding profusely, once you put a towel on and apply pressure DO NOT TAKE THE TOWEL OFF! If they continue to bleed, simply continue to add towels.
My poor little frantic son finally found the cordless and brought it to me. In the meantime, I did something I knew from previous experience. While I stayed on the phone with the 911 dispatcher and got information from my husband, I got information gathered and prepared to leave for the hospital. I got my shoes on, grabbed extra jammies since hers had blood all over them, grabbed her a jacket and a blanket and a charger for my almost-dead cell phone and threw them all in my purse. I also put the dogs in their kennels so that they would not be in the way when the emergency personnel arrived. As soon as I heard the sirens, I went outside to meet them.
They were fantastic, especially with my frantic daughter. She was VERY scared, and would prefer to rub the back of her gaping open head against my husband's shirt before allowing the nice gentlemen to look at it. They finally said they would have to strap her down or one of us would have to hold her. I know my limits. I stayed in the kitchen while they did what they needed to in the living room. And here is where I broke down for a bit. It took all I had to not rush in there and save her. I felt so bad for her and I felt like I was letting her down. But, really, this is NOT what the people trying to help her need at this moment. And even though I was mad, I know that they are right, it is very important to stay calm. Your child will feed off of your reaction. Further, you cannot fully listen to what they are saying if you are freaking out. It was decided that my daughter was way too afraid to go in the ambulance, so instead they would give her a "princess hat" and I would take her to the hospital. Another bit of advice they gave me that I wouldn't have thought of. If the condition worsens or your child stops breathing or passes out during the drive, PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY AND CALL 911 rather than continuing to drive. Our drive ended up fine. We sang songs to pass the time since I ran into an unexpected delay due to construction.
As our situation turned out, the only way I could get my daughter to agree to go to the hospital calmly (she has been to the ER before due to a dog bite under her eye and was NOT wanting to go) was to promise that my sister would meet us there. And thank goodness she did. When it comes to gory stuff, I really am usually okay. Until it comes to my own babies. Then...not so much. Last time, with the dog bite, I ended up passing out just as they completed her stitches. This time I couldn't make it so long. My daughter was sitting on my lap and I really had nowhere to look except for the gaping wound and I could smell the blood in her hair and the Dr. was talking about fatty tissue and staples and I felt myself go woozy. I handed my daughter over to my sister and don't remember much of the next few minutes and then there I was on the little bed. Again. The first time I got lucky and we were already done. But this time, it helped to have my sister there because she was able to talk to the Dr. about our options while my mind was going from fuzzy to clear, answer my questions when need be, keep my daughter calm, and handle the situation. And my daughter was able to still be comforted by someone she loves. You never know how you are going to react. Maybe you missed a meal, maybe you are tired, maybe you hate yucky stuff, who knows. But it is always a good plan to have someone go to the ER with you, particularly when your kids are involved. (As a side note, thanks for the bazillionth time big sis!)
Emergencies and accidents are just that...emergencies and accidents. There are things that just happen, things we don't plan on and sometimes kiddo's get hurt. The important thing is what you do after that happens, and a few small steps can make a world of difference in how smoothly the rest of the evening goes. I hope that this helps someone if they find themselves in a similar situation.
