An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation. Some emergencies will be obvious (such as natural disasters), but others will require early childhood educators to decide if it truly is an emergency.1 Once an emergency has been identified, it’s important to know what to do. This chapter introduces different first aid and emergency medical responses, the phases of a disaster, and more information about a few different types of emergencies.
Basic First Aid “Minor accidents and unintentional childhood injuries are not unusual in the child care setting. Even with careful supervision, children frequently sustain scrapes, bruises, cuts, bites, and falls
in the normal course of their day. Less frequently, medical emergencies…may require immediate intervention and treatment.