What could cause your child to collapse and be admitted to hospital?

Answer 1

It's serious business when someone is seen to collapse. The first responder will have to insure the heart is beating and that respiration is taking place. If not, CPR is the order of the day. (Will someone call 9-1-1, please?) If the person is not conscious, you'll have to conduct your assessment carefully, but thoroughly. If the person is "here" and can be communicated with, ask what happened (whild keeping them down and relaxed). There reason for a person (a child) to collapse may be tough to pinpoint. It could be neurological. If the child experienced "lights out" and went down, it's time to get a neurologist to check things out. Imaging is almost a given. This one will require an aggressive workup 'cause kids don't just collapse for no reason. If there was nothing "going on" at the onset, it's all about the diagnosis, and a neurological consult will be ordered ASAP. You can expect a battery of tests, too. Speaking to the child to see what the little person experienced in the time leading up to the collapse is top priority. As mentioned, if the child is unconscious, they'll be looking to see why the lights went out without help from the youngster. There could be any one of a number of things that come out of this. A "sneaky" malady (disease or medical condition) might have triggered the collapse, and it might have nothing to do with the child's neuromuscular control. This is why the hospital (with its equipment) is so important. The doctors, nurses and other staffers are cued to look into just this sort of thing because it isn't always obvious why someone would collapse. With the information given, the list of possible reasons behind the collapse is going to stretch out a bit. Best of luck to all on this one.