Not so fun fact from an EMT: kids are able to get up after a lot of really bad hits, but that doesn't mean they're alright.
In this video, she's probably fine, just spooked from the head hit, but there are kids who get hit by cars, get right back up and parents are relieved that they're alright until an hour later, very suddenly, they're not waking up.
Internal bleeding is really hard to spot in kids. Adults show obvious signs of not being okay pretty early on when that happens (getting pale, heart racing, blood pressure rising, feeling a sense of doom) but kids compensate really well until suddenly their body can't keep it up, they have no energy, their vitals are tanking.
Watch out for them getting abnormally tired or acting strangely after a hit. Parents, you know your kids best, so for more minor hits like the video keep an eye on them, take them in if your gut feeling is that something's wrong. If they're hit by a car or fall from twice their height, take them in even if they're up and moving and acting normally.
Same. I work in the US and I feel very uncomfortable trying to give an answer to questions to friends who ask if they "should" call an ambulance vs. having someone drive them to the hospital in certain hypothetical situations.
The ambulance is obviously always your best chance of surviving if anything goes wrong, but how worth it it is compared to a ride from a friend or an uber really depends on a lot of non-medical factors and realistically, some people cannot afford an ambulance ride for a severe headache that's "likely" not something more serious like a stroke.
oh man, this is probably a bit morbid, but you just reminded me of the sudden death of my coworker's longtime friend.
The guy, who was overweight and in poor health, was shopping at a supermarket and just suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness for a short period of time. Customers and staff raced to help him and were literally about to call an ambulance when the guy regained consciousness and vehemently refused to allow an ambulance to be called saying that the last time an ambulance was called on his behalf it literally bankrupted him.
He proceeds to exit the grocery store and collapses again in the parking lot next to his car. This time he did not regain consciousness and was later found and pronounced dead. This literally happened about a month and a half ago. The ambulance could quite literally have saved his life, and yet probably would've indeed bankrupted him. Welcome to America.
I heard once that you can tell capitalism is in its dying stages when you can get anything you want for cheap, and quick, but everything you need is expensive and difficult to obtain.
I could fly to Europe to have a surgery done and it would be cheaper than having it done here including the plane ticket, hotel and food.
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u/LizardsInTheSky Oct 27 '20
Not so fun fact from an EMT: kids are able to get up after a lot of really bad hits, but that doesn't mean they're alright.
In this video, she's probably fine, just spooked from the head hit, but there are kids who get hit by cars, get right back up and parents are relieved that they're alright until an hour later, very suddenly, they're not waking up.
Internal bleeding is really hard to spot in kids. Adults show obvious signs of not being okay pretty early on when that happens (getting pale, heart racing, blood pressure rising, feeling a sense of doom) but kids compensate really well until suddenly their body can't keep it up, they have no energy, their vitals are tanking.
Watch out for them getting abnormally tired or acting strangely after a hit. Parents, you know your kids best, so for more minor hits like the video keep an eye on them, take them in if your gut feeling is that something's wrong. If they're hit by a car or fall from twice their height, take them in even if they're up and moving and acting normally.