About Pediatric Medical Emergencies

On this page you will find information regarding what parents and guardians can do when their child suddenly becomes ill or injured. This information is sourced from the Japanese edition of the Pediatric Medical Emergency Pamphlet, or こども救急パンフレット, which can accessed on its homepage by clicking the link below.

Pediatric Medical Emergency Pamphlet Homepage (Japanese)

1. Pediatric Medical Emergency Telephone Consultations

   Fukushima Prefecture Pediatric Emergency Telephone Consultations (#8000)
   When your child suddenly becomes ill during the night and you don’t know whether or not to bring your child to the hospital, please call us. You can consult with experienced doctors or nurses about what you can do.

   Short Dial: #8000 (For fixed phone lines or cellphones)
   Or Call: 024-521-3790 (fixed telephone analog line)

   Hours: Every day from 7:00pm to the following morning at 8:00am.

2. Pediatric Medical Emergencies/Early Internal Medicine Emergencies at Night in Minamisoma

   Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital
   Please contact the hospital before coming to get a consultation.

   Address: Haramachi, Takami-cho 2-Chome 54-6

   Telephone Number: 0244-22-3181
   Hours: Weekends, holidays, and December 31^st to January 3^rd from 7:00pm to 9:30pm

   You can also check the city homepage and the distributed Kouhou Minamisoma (広報みなみそうま) for information regarding the on-duty doctors during holidays each month.

1. When did it start?

2. What was the seizure like?

3. How long did the seizure last?

4. During the seizure, was there any difference in the movement of the left or right side of the body?

5. What was their temperature at the time of the seizure?

Turn their face so that it is sideways and loosen their clothes.

Clear the surroundings of anything that they could hurt themselves on during the seizure.

Using your finger, make sure there isn’t anything in their mouth.

What to do when your child accidentally ingests something or when a foreign object gets stuck in their respiratory tract (throat, trachea, bronchial tube) is different.

When you notice your child gasping for breath, coughing, or their eyes turning white or black, they may be choking on a foreign object. Please see the illustrations below on how to perform a Heimlich maneuver.

The way you treat accidental ingestion largely depends on what was ingested. Some ways to solve accidental ingestion is by drinking water or making the child vomit, but in some cases, forcing your child to vomit might cause more harm.

1. Drinking Water

   Drinking water can often dilute whatever the child ingested, but in some cases there aren’t any effects.

2. Vomiting

Liquids like kerosene and sunblock, when accidentally ingested, will cause inflammation in the lungs so it is crucial not to force your child to vomit up these kinds of liquids. Acidic liquids and liquids with high alkalinity (chlorine-based chemicals, etc.) will hurt the mucous membrane as it’s forced out, so please do not force a child to vomit up such chemicals.

NOTE: If you do not know what to do, please call your primary physician or contact a poison control center. 

029-852-9999 (Available 9am to 9pm, all year round)

072-727-2499 (Available 24/7, all year round)

072-729-9922 (Taped information available 24/7)

1. How did your child hit their head? Did they fall? Tumble over? Were struck by something? Or was the cause something else?
2. Where did they fall or tumble over? On tatami? Concrete? Dirt? A gravel road? Or somewhere else?
3. If they fell, from how high up did they fall?

Please do not leave small children unattended around open baths or pools.  

What caused your child’s burns? Hot water? Oil? A heater? A rice cooker? A pot? Or something else?

1. If the degree of the burn is lower than 3^rd degree, be sure to keep the burned area under lukewarm or cold water for about 20~30 minutes. If it is too painful for the child to remove their clothes beforehand, you can do this step while wearing clothes as well.
2. If the area burned is wide, please place it under a cold, damp towel and go to a medical institution for an examination.
3. Please be careful not to pop or break any blisters that appear.
4. Until you can see a doctor, using your own judgement, try not to cover the burned area with anything. 

1. What is their temperature?
2. How long have they had the fever?

1. If their temperature is high, use a cool sheet or ice pack on their head, armpits, neck, or thighs to keep them cooled down.
2. Give liquids (hot water, barley tea, deionized water for infants, etc.) in small portions.
3. If they are sweating, be sure to dry them off and change their clothes.

1. When did they start vomiting?

2. How many times have they vomited?

3. What did their vomit look like?

4. Do they have a stomachache?

1. When they sleep, have them sleep on their side.

2. After they vomit, have them drink some liquids (hot water, barley tea, deionized water for infants, etc.) in small portions.

1. How often have they defecated?

2. What have they ate or drank recently?

3. What color is their poop? White? Black? Red? Green? Something else?

4. Does anyone else in the house have diarrhea?

1. Drink plenty of liquids (hot water, barley tea, deionized water for infants, etc.)
2. In order to prevent the illness from spreading, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after assisting in cleaning up the sick child until they are completely better.

1. Is anything blocking their airway?
2. Is there anything unusual about the way the coughing sounds?
3. Do they have any allergies?

1. Monitor the temperature of the room and be careful of dry air.
2. If their cough is really bad, turn on the humidifier.
3. Even if they don’t have an appetite, make sure they at least take in fluids.

1. Lower your head in a position so that your child doesn’t end up ingesting blood.
2. Make sure there is nothing inserted in the nose before pinching the nostrils shut to stop the blood flow.
3. Keep the pressure applied for about 15 minutes, or until the bleeding stops.

1. Cover the wound with a clean cloth and apply light pressure if the wound is shallow, or strong pressure if the wound is deep in order to stop the bleeding.
2. If it is difficult to stop the bleeding, raise the wound up over the height of their heart if possible.
3. Thoroughly wash and disinfect the wounds to prevent infection.

1. What kind of bee stung your child? (If you have the bee’s carcass, bring it with you.)
2. What kind of animal bit your child? Snake (If so, do you know the type)? A wild animal? A stray cat or dog? Something else?
3. Has your child received all their vaccines so far?