Massachusetts Personal Injury Library

First Aid for Child Eye Injuries

Massachusetts child injury lawyer Thomas Kiley concentrates on legal issues surrounding child injuries. Each year, thousands of children under the age of five are accidentally injured in the eye. These serious injuries can damage the child’s sight and can even cause permanent blindness.

Talk to Tom Kiley if your child has suffered a traumatic eye injury. FREE Consultations: 1-888-208-1695.

Preventing Eye Injuries in Children

Eye experts want parents to be aware of how to prevent eye injuries from happening to their children. They advise parents to understand how eye injuries occur, and be ready to treat eye injuries in the appropriate way.

According to Access Excellence, in 2002 more than 14,000 children age 14 and younger suffered sports-related eye injuries serious enough to be treated in hospital emergency rooms. Protective eye wear could have prevented most of these injuries.

If a foreign object becomes embedded in the eye, any movement of the object, including removing it, can cause increased bleeding, damage, or pain. All eye problems are serious because loss of sight or infection may occur, so any foreign object in the eye requires immediate medical attention.

First Aid Procedures

First aid procedures are meant to give parents steps to follow before taking the child to a medical expert.

Some experts have these suggestions for first aid treatment of eye injuries:

1. First, leave the object in place and don’t put any pressure on the area.
2. Parents should wash their hands before bandaging the eye. If the object is small, cover both eyes with sterile dressings. If the object is large, tape a paper cup over the injured eye and cover the uninjured eye with a sterile dressing.
3. Don’t attempt to clean the area, and don’t breathe on the area.
4. Stock a first aid kit with a rigid eye shield and commercial eyewash before an eye injury happens.
5. In the case of chemicals affecting the eyes, immediately flush the eye with water or any other drinkable liquid. Hold the eye under a faucet or shower, or pour water into the eye using a clean container. Keep the eye open and as wide as possible while flushing. Continue flushing for at least 15 minutes.
6. Do not use an eyecup or bandage the eye.
7. Seek immediate medical treatment after flushing.
8. If there is a speck in the eye, do not allow your child to rub the eye but let the tears wash the speck out or use an eyewash. Try lifting the upper eyelid outward and down over the lower lid.
9. If the speck does not wash out, keep the eye closed, bandage it lightly, and see a doctor.
10. If the child receives a blow to the eye, apply a cold compress without putting pressure on the eye. Crushed ice in a plastic bag can be taped to the forehead to rest gently on the injured eye.
11. In cases of pain, reduced vision, or discoloration (black eye), seek emergency medical care. Any of these symptoms could mean internal eye damage.
12. For a cut or puncture to the eye or eyelid, parents should not wash out the eye but cover it with a rigid shield without pressure and see a doctor.

Seeking Legal Help

Call 1-888-208-1695 to speak to a Boston child injury lawyer regarding your child’s eye injury. FREE CONSULTATIONS!

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