Head injuries in kids what to look out for: Paramedic shares warning about kids and head injuries and the red flag all parents need to know

Knowing the fine line between under and overreacting to a little person’s illness or injury can be one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of parenting.

Those of us who aren’t medical professionals are often left going with our gut, or consulting Google if we can’t get into our GP (or if the accident happens on a Saturday night, as often seems to happen).

But an Australian paramedic has highlighted one sign all parents should be alert to if their child suffers any kind of head injury.

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Posting a story to the Tiny Hearts Education Instagram, Nikki Jurcutz shared a story from one of their first aid course participants, who took her son to hospital after what she otherwise may have brushed off as a minor injury.

“Our son ran into a glass door and just had the tiniest bump on his head. But he was vomiting and that just didn’t sit right with me,” she shared, alongside photos of the barely detectable forehead bump.

Tiny Hearts then said that more than one vomit after a head bump required an “urgent” medical assessment. 

“The reason for this is that multiple vomits can be a sign that there is increased pressure around your child’s brain,” they said.

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Explaining that the ‘physical appearance’ of a bump didn’t always correlate with the seriousness of the injury, Jurcutz explained that vomiting post-injury was always a ‘red flag’.

“The reason we want our kids checked out if they vomit more than once after a head bump is to rule out that the bump hasn’t caused the pressure around the brain to increase,” she explained.

“The medical term for increased pressure around the brain is ‘raised intracranial pressure’ and one of the signs of this is, yup you guessed it, vomiting.”

Thankfully, the little boy was taken to hospital to be monitored, and found not to have any increased pressure on his brain, and as Jurcutz said, his mum ‘did the right thing’ in having him checked out.

Many followers agreed, sharing their own horror stories as a reminder of the importance of taking any head injury seriously.

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“This happened to my son at two years old. He was fine for four hours then when I went to check on him while sleeping the bed was covered in vomit and poo and I couldn’t wake him. The ambulance came and couldn’t wake him either. His body went into delayed shock after suffering concussion. It was absolutely terrifying,” said one.

“It’s so crazy that they can have a minor bump and it can be serious and a giant egg and no red flags,” said another.

“My daughter jumped and fell and hit her head this week. Vomited [two times]. Thankfully her head CT was clear but she did have a concussion. Thankful for education like this!,” shared a third.

“Literally this happened to my friends this week. The ED sent her away because she also vomited while waiting. A coincidence. She had a bump and all. My friend took her the next day to get it scanned. Pushed for it. She had a small skull fracture.,” said another.

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