First Aid Every Parent Should Actually Have in Their Head

The reality of parental first aid is that you'll use it rarely, and when you do, you'll have about 30 seconds before adrenaline takes over. The list of things worth knowing isn't long — it's the actions for choking, anaphylaxis, severe burns, severe bleeding, head injury, and CPR. Everything else can wait for a phone call.

This article is the cheat sheet, not the textbook. It's not a substitute for an in-person course, which makes the actions automatic in a way reading can't. £30–£50 for two hours, and the techniques are dramatically more memorable when you've practised them.

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When to call 999 / 911 — and when to call NHS 111 / your GP

Call 999 / 911 immediately:

• Not breathing, breathing very shallowly, or blue lips
• Not responsive (won't wake, floppy)
• A seizure that hasn't stopped within 5 minutes, or a first-ever seizure in a child under 1
• Severe allergic reaction with breathing problems, swollen tongue/lips, or wheeze
• Severe bleeding that won't stop with 10 minutes of firm pressure
• A serious burn (larger than the child's palm, on face/hands/feet/genitals, or any burn that looks white/leathery/charred)
• Suspected swallowed button battery
• Suspected serious head injury (loss of consciousness, more than one vomit, fluid from ear/nose, hard to wake)
• Drowning / near-drowning event, even if the child seems fine afterwards
• Inhaled object causing breathing trouble
• Severe abdominal pain with pale, sweaty, drowsy child

Call NHS 111 / GP same-day for:

• Persistent fever in a baby <3 months ≥38°C, or 3–6 months ≥39°C, or any feverish baby who looks unwell
• Single vomit after head bump in an alert child
• A wound that gapes / over a joint / near the eye / dirty
• Persistent rash with fever
• A baby <1 year who has had any fall — even if they look fine
• Anything you're not sure about

Call Poison Control / NHS 111 for ingestions — bring the bottle, don't make them vomit, no food/drink unless told to.

In the UK: 999 emergency, 111 urgent advice. In the US: 911 emergency, 1-800-222-1222 Poison Control. Save these in your phone tonight.

The actions, by scenario

Choking — child under 1

Five back blows, then five chest thrusts, then check the mouth. Repeat.

• Lay the baby face-down along your forearm, head lower than chest, supporting the jaw with your fingers.
• Five sharp blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.
• Turn the baby face-up. Two fingers on the breastbone, one finger-width below the nipple line. Five sharp chest thrusts, about 4 cm deep, slower than CPR compressions.
• Check the mouth — only sweep out something you can clearly see. Don't finger-sweep blindly — you can push the object further in.
• Repeat back blows / chest thrusts / check until the object comes out, the baby starts crying or coughing strongly, or the baby goes unresponsive.
• Call 999 / 911 if it doesn't clear in the first cycle, or if the baby goes limp — start infant CPR.

Choking — child over 1

• Five back blows (lean them forward, sharp blows between shoulder blades).
• Five abdominal thrusts (Heimlich) — stand behind, fist between navel and breastbone, sharp inward-and-upward thrust.
• Check mouth (don't blind-sweep). Repeat.
• 999 / 911 if not cleared in first cycle.

CPR — infant (under 1)

If the baby isn't breathing and isn't responsive: shout for help, then start.

• Five rescue breaths first (UK and ERC guidance for paediatric CPR). Cover the baby's nose and mouth with your mouth; gentle puffs only — just enough to make the chest rise.
• 30 chest compressions: two fingers on the breastbone, one finger-width below the nipple line. Press 4 cm deep, allow full recoil, rate 100–120 per minute (think "Stayin' Alive").
• 2 rescue breaths.
• Continue 30:2 until help arrives or the baby starts breathing/moving.
• Hands-only CPR (no breaths) is acceptable if you can't or won't do breaths — better than nothing.

CPR — child (1 year to puberty)

• Same 5-breaths-first approach. Tilt head, lift chin, breath until chest rises.
• 30 compressions: heel of one hand (or two for a bigger child) on lower half of breastbone, push 5 cm deep, rate 100–120/min.
• 2 breaths.
• Continue 30:2 until help.

Severe bleeding

• Apply firm direct pressure with a clean cloth. Don't keep peeking — pressure for at least 10 minutes uninterrupted.
• Raise the bleeding part above the heart if possible.
• If blood soaks through, add another cloth on top — don't remove the first.
• Call 999 / 911 for bleeding that doesn't stop, spurts, comes from a major vessel area (groin, neck), or is from a deep wound.
• Don't tourniquet unless you've been trained and the bleeding is catastrophic.

Burns

The single most important action: cool running water for at least 20 minutes. Even hours after the burn happened.

• Run cool (not cold, not iced) water over the burn for 20 minutes minimum.
• Remove jewellery and loose clothing around the burn (not anything stuck to it).
• Cover loosely with cling film (not tightly) or a clean non-stick dressing.
• Don't use ice, butter, toothpaste, oils, ointments, creams.
• Call 999 / A&E for: burn larger than the child's palm; on face, hands, feet, genitals, or over a joint; white/leathery/charred; chemical or electrical burn; baby under 1.
• Smaller superficial burns can be managed at home with the cool-water rule and clean cover, with a same-day GP/NHS 111 call.

Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction)

Recognise: any one of breathing trouble, swollen tongue/lips, wheeze, hoarse voice, severe full-body rash, collapse, after a known or possible allergen.

• EpiPen / Jext / Emerade — into the outer thigh, hold for 10 seconds. Through clothing is fine.
• Call 999 / 911 every time, even if the auto-injector seems to fix it (rebound is real; observation is required).
• Lay the child flat with legs raised (not standing up — vasovagal collapse risk).
• A second auto-injector after 5 minutes if no improvement and ambulance not yet there.

Head injury

• For an under-1 fall from over their own height, or any head injury with loss of consciousness, more than one vomit, hard to wake, fluid from ear/nose, seizure, persistent crying or odd behaviour: 999 / A&E.
• For a normal-looking knock to the head in an alert child over 1: ice, paracetamol, watch 24–48 hours. Sleep is fine — wake every couple of hours overnight to check they rouse normally.

(See When to take a child to A&E after a fall for the fuller version.)

Suspected button battery ingestion

Different from other ingestions. A&E now, even with no symptoms. Don't wait. Honey 10 ml every 10 minutes en route for children over 12 months — slows the burn. Bring the original packaging if you have it.

Seizure (febrile or otherwise)

• Place the child on their side, on the floor, away from anything they could hit.
• Don't put anything in their mouth.
• Note the time it started.
• Call 999 if it lasts more than 5 minutes, or is the first seizure ever, or is in a baby under 1.
• After it stops, the child will be drowsy and confused — that's normal.

Poisoning / ingestion

• Don't make them vomit.
• Don't give milk unless told to.
• Call NHS 111 (UK) / Poison Control 1-800-222-1222 (US) / 999 if symptomatic.
• Bring the bottle, packet, or plant to A&E.
• Buttons batteries: A&E directly (see above).

A practical first-aid kit

Forget the "deluxe 200-piece kit". The actually useful contents:

• Plasters — assorted, including waterproof
• Sterile non-stick dressings + gauze
• Crepe bandage (one)
• Micropore tape
• Tweezers (for splinters, ticks)
• Scissors
• Saline pods or sachets (for eye and wound rinsing — better than tap water in a pinch)
• Cling film (small roll, for burns)
• A digital thermometer
• Children's paracetamol and ibuprofen (liquid, dosed by weight, in date)
• Disposable gloves
• The child's own EpiPen / Jext if prescribed
• A printed list of doses by weight, NHS 111, GP, dentist, Poison Control, nearest A&E

What you don't need: alcohol pads (sting, no benefit on minor wounds), iodine (bin), butter (don't), homeopathic anything.

For each child, write the up-to-date weight on the inside of the kit lid — it's what every paramedic and pharmacist will ask first.

Take a course — the actually-useful 2 hours

Reading first aid is not the same as doing it. Hands on a manikin — knowing what 4 cm of compression depth feels like, doing back-blows on a doll — converts panic into muscle memory. Options:

• UK: British Red Cross, St John Ambulance, British Heart Foundation, Mini First Aid (specifically paediatric, parent-targeted). 2–3 hours, £30–£50.
• US: American Red Cross, American Heart Association. Look for "Pediatric First Aid / CPR / AED".

Refresher every 2–3 years. Guidance changes (e.g., the move from heated to cool water for burns happened in living memory; the move to "5 breaths first" in paediatric CPR is more recent than parents tend to know).

The first-aid scenarios that genuinely matter for small children are: choking, severe bleeding, burns, anaphylaxis, head injury, and not breathing. The actions are short and worth memorising. Reading isn't the same as practising — book a 2-hour paediatric first-aid course. Red Cross / St John Ambulance / British Heart Foundation in the UK; American Red Cross / AHA in the US. £30–£50, the most useful 2 hours you'll spend as a parent.