How to Deal with Broken Bones

Lucy Piper: Hello! I am Lucy Piper. As we all know, children have boundless energy. And this can leave them vulnerable to injury, particularly broken bones. With me is Clive James from St. John Ambulance to answer questions on what procedures to follow when suspect a broken bone. Welcome Clive and Mom Fiona and little Sam -- So Clive, first things first, what should we do if we suspect our child has a broken bone? Clive James: First thing to do is not panic. Broken bones easily repaired, and what we really need to do is just make sure we'll comfort a child. Sometimes you know, as obvious. You have got to know your child and mom's will tell you that they know their child, they know when there is something wrong. And if a child is particularly guarded against a certain part of body, then obviously you suspect that there was something wrong there. We obviously look out certain things as well. Broken bones or a child will always manifests himself in same way. There will be a swelling, there will be bruising. The bruising might not be instantaneous, but certainly the swelling will come up and obviously pain. Lucy Piper: And though Fiona has got question for you. Fiona Case: Once you know, your child has broken that bone, is there anything you can do to avoid any further injury? Clive James: Keep it still. Gone are the days, when we used to bandage everything up. If we bandage things up, quite often we have to unbandage it. So what we do -- Fiona Case: So you don't bandage? Clive James: No, what we suggest is really truly just keep kid, nice and steady supported. If you think it's broken then as best you can to mobilize it, and get the child hospital and if you got any concerns then call an ambulance. Fiona Case: Okay. Lucy Piper: What's the difference Clive? How do you know if your child has got a sprain or fracture? Because obviously it's quite hard to tell. Clive James: It can be very difficult and sometimes there is very fine line between the two. What we suggest, if you suspects the sprain and sprains don't affect joints. You can get strains in muscles as well, that could be quite painful. But sprains don't affect joints. If you get swelling and you suspect the twisted ankle, we suggest to use, what is called a RICE procedure, which is rest, so take the weight off it. Ice, an ice pack wrapped in a triangular bandage and then compressed around the side and then elevate it. And never put ice directly on to the skin and only keep your ice pack on for about ten minutes. But nice and relaxed, take it off of that and if that's relate the symptoms fine, once again, I can't stress enough, if you have got any concerns, go for help. Lucy Piper: Yeah. I was going to say, if you have done lot of that and you are still worried all day, we will be wasting the ambulance's time to give them a call. Clive James: No. And also don't forgot you will also NHS helpline now as well. They can give advice over the phone as well. So there is -- it's not just ambulance, now you can phone for advice through the NHS as well. Lucy Piper: Lovely. Thank you very much Clive. So to recap, if you suspect a sprain, remember, Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevation. If you suspect a broken bone, try to steady support and immobilize the child then get to hospital but do call an ambulance if you need to.