A Bitter Pill... indeed

One of the many results of California’s economic (and health services) crisis will be the elimination of the state’s poison control services. Yes, California will soon be the only state in the union where parents cannot dial a number and speak with a qualified toxicologist after a child ingests a dangerous substance.

This startling fact is just one of the “new realities” that we face as the state budget for many essential services are slashed or completely eliminated. Poison control services have existed for several decades and have proven to be of immense value in assisting both the lay public as well as many health professionals who regularly use its service.

Strong supporters of poison control services suggest that these centers actually save millions of dollars annually by preventing many Emergency Room (ER) visits. The cost of keeping the centers open is approximately $5.9 million per year. There are figures suggesting that upwards of $70 million per year are actually saved by these preventive experts.

This “cost cutting” measure will leave Californians with fewer (and likely inferior options) if there is a toxic ingestion or exposure. When these centers shut down, parents will either have to call 9-1-1, go directly to a local ER or contact their family physician for advice.

Save A Little Life strongly encourages all parents and concerned citizens to contact the governor’s office and make your voices heard. Tell the governor that this service is essential for safeguarding our children and to maintain full funding for all of California’s poison control centers.

Parents Must Be Ready For Water Emergencies!

As the weather heats up in Southern California so does the risk of drowning. Drowning is the second leading cause of fatalities in the pediatric population and, as we know, too many of these events occur in the presence of a parent or care provider.

Our overriding emphasis should be focused on primary prevention. Should these measures fail, the immediate focus is on CPR, well before the arrival of the paramedics.

A recent study, published by the Department of Emergency Medicine at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW, Australia tends to confirm what is already well established. Bystander CPR is a major factor for a good outcome in near-drowning episodes.

During an 11 day period in January, 2007 (their Summer), eight children experienced drowning or near-drowning events. Four of the victims received CPR within 5 minutes of immersion and survived with good functional neurological outcomes (no brain damage). The other four were not discovered for over 5 minutes, and all of these children died.

Experts in the field of emergency medicine acknowledge that survival of drowning victims is usually a result of immediate CPR, prior to the arrival of paramedics. Many of those who survive are already conscious and breathing by the time an emergency responder arrives.

IF ALONE WITH A DROWNING VICTIM

If we hope to give the victim a chance of survival, CPR needs to be started IMMEDIATELY upon getting the victim out of the water. IF ALONE with the victim, perform CPR for at least 2 minutes before attempting to call 9-1-1. The current CPR guideline for drowning victims is 30 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths. This is the same technique for victims on dry land.

Remember, the key emphasis is always on prevention. The gold standard of safety with babies & children is to remain within arms reach and always focused on them.

Have a safe and fun summer season!

Save A Little Life DVD On Sale Now!

Dear Friends of Save A Little Life, It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce the release of our instructional DVD for parents & care providers! We view its release as an important adjunct to your time in class and hope that you will add it to your educational reference materials at home. The CPR and airway obstruction guidelines are as current as we could make them. They reflect the international guidelines for CPR as used by the American Heart Association, Red Cross and others.

Welcome to Save a Little Life

We are very excited that you’ve chosen us for this very important educational experience.  Whether or not you’ve taken a CPR course in the past, you are in for a surprise.  Unlike many courses, our program is a simple, straight forward and uncomplicated approach to life-saving skills. 

Our goal is to prepare parents & care providers for the most unlikely of events.  As a result, the focus is on simplicity of action to increase the likelihood of a good outcome in a potential health crisis.

Although we follow the guidelines of the American Heart Association, we are not rigid in our approach.  You will have plenty of “hands on” time with a life-like manikin in simulated emergency situations and, with our guidance, be able to respond in a helpful way.

In addition, we offer many materials that you will take home to reinforce the educational experience and improve your retention of the material presented.

We look forward to having you join us in this exciting journey of discovery and self reliance.  It is a most rewarding feeling to know that if an unexpected event occurs, you will have increased confidence in your ability to make a difference in those lives you value most.

Focus on safety

In our continued quest for dissiminating information on child safety we continuously publish articles in what we call our Safety Corner. These are halpful and are broken down into categories. Should you wish for an article on a particular subject or have specific safety questions you can email us your suggestion or question.

Resources

We are also comitted to helping find helful resources for families and caregivers. Whether you are a veteran caregiver or about to become a new parent you will find nuch information not only in our Safety Corner but also in our Helpful Links page and in our Recommended Reading page.

Coming Soon:

DVD Program

As of this writing, we are in production of a DVD that will serve as an important adjunct to our CPR & First-Aid programs. We hope that final production will be achieved by early summer, at the latest, allowing you to purchase a home program that you can review as often as necessary to update your recollection of these life-saving skills. It will include a review of CPR, rescue breathing, removal of an airway obstruction and some of the simple tips for easy recollection of these activities. Some first-aid skills will also be included.

ON-LINE Registration and purchases

We are looking at the reality of on-line registration of classes as well as the ability to purchase first-aid kits over the internet. We will soon announce the times for these changes and expect it will allow many more parents to take advantage of our services.

In the meantime you can download a Registration form to mail in by clicking here.

Article Spotlight:

Summertime Reminder

A recently published article in the journal Pediatrics reminds us all that heat stress from enclosed vehicles can cause significant temperature rise and put infants & children at risk for hyperthermia.

The effects of high internal automobile temperatures takes young lives every year in the U.S. In 2003, the number of deaths from heat stroke rose in the pediatric population to 42. Previous averages per year have been running at ~ 29 deaths per year.

Temperatures in encolsed autos can range from 134 to 154 degrees, and do so in a hurry. On average, temperatures tend to increase 3.2 degrees per minute and this is barely affected by having the window open a "crack." These results are based on ambient temperatures outside of only 86 dregees. Southern California can easily exceed those numbers, and often do.

This is just a reminder to parents & care providers that small passengers are subject to heat stroke at a greater rate than adults, due to low body mass. It is imperative that we pay close attention to this issue and remind all others that might transport your infants and children in automobiles that passenger safety during the warmer months is everyones job.

more safety articles...