How to Handel a Broken Bone

Video Transcript

"You're at the playground and one of your children has just fell off the monkey bars. You run over to see how they are doing, and you see that there is a bone out of place. My name is Beverly Bitterman, ARNP Health and Wellness consultant, here to tell you what to do next. The first thing that you need to do, and this is difficult, is to remain as calm as possible. Because if you're calm, it will become easier for your child to become calm. What you are looking for is, is the bone aligned? Are you concerned that the bone is broken? And signs that a bone might be broken are if it doesn't look like it is where it should be. Like say if it's an arm, and now there is a dent in it. It doesn't go smoothly along here. It goes along and then it suddenly dips in. That would be a sign of a broken arm. There is something that we call a compound fracture, which is a really nasty fracture, where part of the bone may actually poke through the skin and be bleeding as well. So what you are going to want to do is call for help. And your are going to want to, what we call stabilize the arm, or the leg, or whatever the joint is. And so that means that you just want to basically leave it alone. If there is something that you can use to rest it on, that's helpful. You know maybe there is even a piece of playground equipment, a board or a ball bat that can be wrapped around the arm. So that it doesn't move. Because the more that joint jostles, the more damage it can do, and the more uncomfortable it will be for the person with the broken bone. If you can easily, like if it is an arm, you may safely be able to drive the person to the emergency room. If it is something like a leg or if the person is quite heavy, then you may be safer calling 911, in order to get you there safely. Again, stay as calm as you can, immobilize the joint, keep it from moving around. My name is Beverly Bitterman ANRP, Health and Wellness consultant and good luck with that."