What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick: The essential emergency manual for parents and carers

Have you ever felt helpless when your child - or a child in your care - became unwell and you weren't sure what was wrong? Have you ever been faced with an emergency situation involving a child and not had the first idea what to do? Would you know what to do if your child stopped breathing and their heart stopped beating?

What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick is designed to help parents and carers recognise severe illness and deterioration in children, and enable them to make a decision about whether a child is slightly unwell, and can be taken to the GP the next day; moderately ill, and needs to be taken to the Emergency Department, but can stay in the waiting room, and when 000 should be called.

It also aims to cover almost every conceivable medical emergency you might face with your child, as well as a wide range of less serious, but nonetheless frightening, medical situations, such as the management of broken bones, seizures and burns.

The must-have manual for parents and anyone looking after children - from teachers to babysitters, nannies, day-care staff and preschool teachers - this book will be an invaluable addition to every bookshelf.

Most of the books in this under-served area appear to be British, Canadian or American. What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick is specifically aimed at the Australian and New Zealand market, with its references to emergency numbers and hospital procedures.

About the Author :
Associate-Professor Paul Middleton is an emergency physician with extensive experience dealing with sick children. He has taught doctors and nurses how to recognise and treat acute and serious childhood illness and injury. He is a Senior Medical Adviser to the NSW Ambulance Service and the Chair of the NSW branch of the Australian Resuscitation Council.

Dr Andrew Ratchford is an emergency physician who lectures in clinical medicine at Sydney University. He worked for the Helicopter Emergency Medicine Service in the UK, treating critically injured children and now teaches an advanced paediatric life support.

Dr Jason Smith is a consultant in emergency medicine in the UK and a senior lecturer in pre-hospital and emergency medicine. He has extensive clinical experience of dealing with paediatric emergencies.

Dr John McKenzie works as an emergency physician in southern Sydney and as a medical advisor to the NSW Ambulance Service. He spent two years in Africa with Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Review :
"Most of us will have to deal with a sick baby or child at some point in our lives ... this is an invaluable guide to knowing what to do and when. ...there is lots of practical advice on dealing with serious medical situations such as burns, stings, bites and poisoning." - The Sunday Times