Kid Care – Where do I go with a sick or injured child?

What symptoms to watch for, how to provide care at home, and when to visit your doctor, a clinic, or the Children’s Emergency Department.

With respiratory viruses circulating, it’s important to know what symptoms to look for and when to seek help.

Where you go will depend on your child’s symptoms as well as where you are located. Many common cold and flu symptoms can be safely treated at home, or with a visit to your doctor, a walk-in clinic, or urgent care centre.

Having a sick or injured child can be scary and overwhelming. Knowing where to go BEFORE your child becomes sick or injured can help you make the right decision when they need care.

HSC Children’s Emergency often sees a large number of patients that could be carefully monitored and managed at home, or treated by a primary care provider or in a Walk-in Connected Care Clinic. Knowing Where to Go may save you a trip – or a long wait.

Common Conditions

Click to see video

Click to see infographic

Click to see video

Information developed and provided by TREKK

Non-Respiratory Conditions

Issue	Emergency	Non-Emergent
Breathing	Having difficulty breathing (breathing fast, sucking in the skin between ribs, pauses in breathing) Pale skin with blue lips Wheezing, not responding to medication	Nasal congestion and cough Mild wheezing that is responding to medication or is not associated with difficulty breathing
Fever	Infant (less than 3 months old) with fever Immune system or chronic health problems Difficult to wake or excessively sleepy Fever ongoing for more than 5-7 days Neck stiffness with vomiting and sleepiness Unable to walk or weakness of arms or legs	In healthy and vaccinated babies In children who are generally well On its own, a high fever does not require a trip to emergency
Vomiting/ Diarrhea	In a child less than 3 months old more than 3 times per day Repeated vomiting and shows signs of dehydration (no tears, dry mouth, sunken soft spot, no urine passed in 12 hours) Containing blood or is bright green	Vomiting or diarrhea with no signs of dehydration Ongoing diarrhea after ‘stomach flu’ as this can last for up to 2 weeks
Injuries (see head injury specifically below)	Injury to a limb causing large swelling or inability to use the limb Eye injuries Injury causing chest or stomach pain Cuts with gaping edges or continuing to bleed despite direct pressure Mouth injuries with ongoing bleeding or cuts to the roof of the mouth	Scrapes and bruises where the injured part can still be used Cuts smaller than 0.5cm which are not bleeding and where the edges are close together.
Skin Rashes	Rash with fever that looks like tiny or expanding bruises that don’t turn white or fade when you push on them Fever with a rash that looks like blisters Rash with fever where child is very sleepy	Recurring rashes or skin problems Rashes with cough and cold symptoms, if the child looks well Mild hives that respond to antihistamines without difficulty breathing or throat/tongue swelling
Burns	Burns that blister and are larger than a Loonie	Sunburns
Mental Health Concerns	Thoughts of harming themselves or others Confusion or seeing or hearing things that others cannot	Adjustment of medication for behaviour Anxiety/Sleep concerns Bullying at school
Pain	Pain that does not respond to comfort measures and over the counter pain medicine like acetaminophen or ibuprofen	Pain that responds to comfort measures and over the counter or prescribed medicines
Allergies	Difficulty breathing, swelling of the face and lips, vomiting or redness of the skin that might suggest a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)	Hives only Clear nasal discharge or eye discharge with exposure to animals/pollens
Bites and Stings	Signs of severe allergic reaction Sting inside the mouth.	Swelling in area of bite or sting
Ingested Substances	Contact the Manitoba Poison Centre at 1-855-7POISON (776-4766) They will direct you to the emergency department, if appropriate
Head Injuries	Loss of consciousness (“blacking out”) Throwing up more than four times Seizures Severe headache that is not getting better Neck pain/tenderness Seeing double Weakness/numbness in arms/legs Head injury with visible swelling and the child is less than 6 months old Slurred speech Very sleepy or very irritable	Minor head injuries (with no loss of consciousness, no confusion, and vomiting less than 4 times) Mild head injuries with normal behavior within 4 hours of injury and bumps (even large) to the forehead

Additional Resources

General information

Asthma resources

Kid Care – Where do I go with a sick or injured child?

What is Fever?

What symptoms to watch for in addition to fever?

How do I know whether I should let a fever run its course vs. medicating?

How many days of fever should I be treating at home?

How do you know if it is RSV or a cold?

Is there an RSV vaccine?

Is it safe for children who have or are getting over a respiratory illness to play outside in colder weather?

Should you give cough/cold medication to a child under 6?

At what point should I bring my child to the ER?

What does it mean if a child seems to get better, then takes a turn for the worse a day or so later?

At what point do you seek medical advice if children have a persistent cough?

Common Conditions

Click to see video

Click to see infographic

Click to see video

Click to see video

Click to see video

Non-Respiratory Conditions

Non-Respiratory Conditions

Additional Resources

Resources for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Action

Read

Language

Watch

Learn