When a child is injured, a parent’s first concern is to get the child proper medical care. For minor child injuries, first aid should be administered, and every home should keep a first aid kit stocked and accessible. For more serious injuries, a trip to an urgent care center or emergency room is a vital action. Very serious or life-threatening child injuries require an ambulance and emergency medical services to provide potentially life-saving treatments.
Any child injury is traumatic. Children can be emotionally distraught when they suffer physical injuries and pain. Parents can help their children by remaining calm, quietly attending to their child’s injuries, and allowing the child to talk about the incident and how it occurred.
If your child has been injured through the negligence of another party, Sevenish Law Firm is here to help. Indianapolis child injury attorney, Randall Sevenish is a father, a grandfather, and the eldest of nine siblings. He understands deeply how precious our children are. He is also a karate sensei with a long history of protecting children. The firm is committed to holding negligent parties accountable and seeking justice and compensation for injuries to children.
How to Help Your Child Emotionally After an Injury
Children who have been injured often remain somewhat upset and worried for several days afterward. Parents can help their children recover emotionally during this stressful period.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia offers the following suggestions:
- Show affection to help your children feel safe. Extra hugs are a good idea at this time, even for adolescents.
- Let them talk about their worries and fears. Children who do not wish to talk about what they are experiencing could draw a picture or write a story instead.
- Get your children back into their normal routines. They should get to bed on time, eat regular meals, and keep up with school as much as possible. To the extent that their injuries allow, encourage your child to resume activities with friends.
- Arrange for injured children to spend more time with close family and friends. Children who have this type of support recover faster from upsetting incidents. You could watch a movie, read, or play games with your child.
- Deal with your own feelings about what happened so you are better able to support your child. Talk with friends, family, clergy, or other trusted professionals. Talking about the incident to another person could help improve your own emotional stability, and allow you to positively influence your child.
- Bear in mind that different people react differently in similar situations. Your child could be experiencing feelings and have unique concerns about the injury or accident that are different than your own. If your injured child has brothers or sisters, be aware that they could also be upset about the injury.
Legal Help for Families of Injured Children
At the Sevenish Law Firm, we believe that people who have caused an injury to a child through an act of negligence must be held accountable for the damage they caused. Whether your child was bitten by a dog, injured in a motor vehicle accident, or suffered any other type of injury, an experienced lawyer with our Indianapolis personal injury law firm can aggressively pursue the compensation the injury case warrants.