| |
YOur child's health
The first purpose of these guidelines is to help you determine how
sick your child is and if you need to call your child's doctor. The
second purpose is to help you treat your child at home when it is
safe to do so. Your doctor's advice and your good judgment should
always take precedence over information in these guidelines.
Choose the appropriate guideline. Topics can be found
alphabetically by the body part involved. The body part list is most
helpful if you’re not sure what to call your child’s symptom (e.g.,
abdomen gives you 5 symptoms to choose from). Choose the symptom
that most closely matches your child’s illness. If your child has
more than one symptom, address the most serious symptom. Serious
means the symptom that potentially could cause the most harm to your
child. (Example: for nosebleed and head trauma together, use the
Head Trauma guideline.) If you aren’t sure, use more than 1
guideline. (Caution: don’t use the fever guideline unless fever is
your child’s only symptom. If your child also has a cough, diarrhea
or other symptom, go to that topic instead of fever.) Choosing the
appropriate symptom is very important because it leads you to the
best information for your child's illness or injury.
Read the symptom definition. Go to the chosen symptom and
read the Symptom Definition to be sure it’s a good fit for your
child. If not, consider related symptoms listed under See More
Appropriate Topic.
Read the parent response sections. Following the Symptom
Definition in each topic there is a list of suggested Parent
Responses (what action you should take). Below each of these is a
list of symptoms/reasons for calling or being seen by your child's
doctor. Read through these bulleted items. Read from top to bottom
and don’t skip any symptoms or reasons. The purpose of these is to
help you determine how sick your child is.
Symbols: > means more than or greater than < means less than
or smaller than
Follow the suggested parent response. If your child has even
one of the serious or other "Call Your Doctor" symptoms, stop
reading the list of reasons to call your doctor and take the Parent
Response action suggested in the heading above. (See the separate
document on Parent Responses to Illness and Injury for definitions
of each Parent Response.) If the recommendation is to call your
doctor within 24 hours or during weekday office hours, refer to the
Home Care Advice section to help you keep your child comfortable
until then.
Follow home care advice. If your child has none of the "Call
Your Doctor" symptoms, follow the Home Care Advice listed in the
final section. But watch your child carefully for any worsening or
new symptoms. If your child's condition changes for the worse,
calling your doctor again is a good idea.
Reader's responsibility. Finally, you’re in control of this
process. If you think or feel your child needs to be seen, call your
doctor for assistance.
Disclaimer. These guidelines have been carefully written and
reviewed. They were last updated on 5/2000. The author disclaims any
responsibility, however, for any harm or damage associated with the
use of this information.
|
|
