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First aid skills for adults may help prevent accidental child deaths
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By Nadia Fazlulhaq
Villagers in Thalahagama in Akuressa were left in shock and tears as they buried the lifeless body of a once bubbly one year old.
Little Kehansa struggled for her life after choking on a small bottle cap while playing with her seven-year-old brother. The parents had been busy with household work and the grandmother had gone to pick tea leaves. The children had been unattended. The child died on admission to Kamburupitiya hospital.
In a similar incident, eight-year-old Heshara tragically lost her life after choking on a banana during the tea break at a Dhamma school.
She was first admitted to district hospital, Dompe and then to Gampaha district general hospital where she died.
Thirteen-year-old Isuru lost his life after falling from a limestone quarry in Digana, Kandy.
Young lives lost: Kehansa (left) and Heshara (right). Pix by Priyantha Dassanayake and Upali Ranaweera
A one-year-old from Ekneligoda, Kuruvita lost his life after inserting a finger in a power socket.
“These were preventable tragic deaths of children. It is the right time for authorities to make first aid skills compulsory to all citizens, starting from schoolstudents,” said Dr.J.M.Nilam, child specialist at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Specialised Children Hospital and chief commissioner of St. John’s Ambulance.
He said there are enough resources and organisations willing to conduct basic first aid skills, however, there’s a lack of interest.
“If the Education Ministry or the National Child Protection Authority makes it compulsory to teach first aid skills for students who have sat for Ordinary Levels or A/Ls as well as train teachers, the future generation will be equipped with first aid knowledge. Meanwhile, MOH maternity clinics too could conduct first aid skills or awareness on injury prevention to new parents,” Dr. Nilam said.
He said this will increase alertness, focus on injury prevention and responsible parenting. The economic crisis has an impact on parental negligence as well, he added.
According to Dr. Kapila Jayaratne, consultant community physician of the Family Health Bureau, transport accidents, drowning, falls, burns and poisoning are the leading cause of child deaths.
He said there is no systematic child injury surveillance mechanism and minimal use of available child injury data for prevention programmes.
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