When to Take My Child to The Hospital? / Quand Amener Mon Enfant à L'hôpital?

A question that often arises particularly with smaller burn injuries, where a parent is wondering whether or not they should-- --whether it's okay to just treat the child at home, or whether they need to take medical attention. There are a few guides that can be very helpful. The first is the extent of the injury, so that's how much of the body's surface area's covered. Burns are very painful. You may have a very small burn, it could be 1%, and 1% burn would be considered the child's palm, including the fingers. We know that once any burn reaches about 5% body surface area, That's an absolute indication that they will need to seek medical attention. And the reason is that even if it's not a deep burn, the amount of dressings, pain, and care that will be required for that wound will generally be beyond the scope of most families. Any critical area will even be more painful, such as the face, the hands, the feet, the genital area. These are specialized areas, which, if I burned both my hands, I would not be able to work. If I burned one of my feet-- even though it's only 1% body surface area-- I would not be able to walk. So although sometimes the burns may be less than 5% body surface area, the areas are specialized areas. And those kinds of burns should be treated at a hospital, and you should seek medical attention immediately. And also circumferential burns, so any burn that goes all the way around your fingers, all the way around your arm, because this can actually cause decreased circulation to specific areas. When the majority of scald burns that happen, and a number of the smaller burn injuries that occur, they're limited in size. And also when one looks at the skin, the skin itself, it's quite superficial, It sometimes can appear like a sunburn. There may be a few small blisters, but where looking at the wound itself, it appears almost manageable or understandable to the family. Burns can be very confusing, and our recommendation is that if somebody is looking at the wound, and they're not sure, that's probably the time to seek medical attention if they're unsure.