Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Baby's Life

Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Baby’s Life by Mark Wilhelmsson

Second Edition

ISBNs: 978-1-953625-29-8 Paperback

978-1-953625-30-4 Hardcover

978-1-953625-31-1 Ebook

Text copyright 2021-2022 Mark Wilhelmsson. Images are copyrighted by their respective owners and used by permission. The first edition of this book was published as Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Child’s Life in 2021 by Kelley Creative.

Published by Kelley Creative. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form, with the limited exception of brief quotations in editorial reviews, without express written permission from the publisher. For permissions, or library or classroom copies, contact info@kelleycreative.design.

Disclaimer

This book contains general information about injury prevention and emergency medical response. The information is not medical advice, and should not be treated as such. The book is not a substitute for hands-on CPR and first aid training by an accredited and authorized CPR and first aid training provider and must not be used as such. None of the individual contributors, the publisher nor anyone else connected to the writing and publishing of this book can take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented in this book. Nothing in this book should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a medical opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of medicine or emergency healthcare. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, Our Child’s Keeper does not warrant that the information in this book is comprehensive, true, accurate, up-to-date, or non-misleading.

You must not rely on the information in this book as an alternative to calling 911 or seeking medical care from healthcare professionals. You should never delay seeking medical or emergency healthcare assistance, disregard the advice of healthcare professionals, or discontinue medical treatment because of information in this book. The information in this book does not prove official competency in any first aid or CPR skill. This book is not endorsed or otherwise authorized by any organizations, training providers or local authorities. We strongly advise all readers to complete a practical first aid and CPR training course with an authorized and accredited first aid and CPR training provider.

Dedication

To my wife, Krischelle, for all of your love, patience, and unwavering support—none of this would’ve been possible without you!

To my children Dylan, Karina, Markus, Lana, and Camille—you’ve all been in my heart and mind on this journey … and we’ve only just begun!

To my sisters Lisa and Monica, brother Erik, and my father, Lars, for your endless patience, advice, inspiration, and tireless support—I simply could not have done it without you all—thank you so much!

A very special thanks to my CPR Instructor Dave Cosmo, and Edith Flood and Therese Alden from Wings Over Water for their extraordinary commitment and dedication to child safety education and instruction—you’ve empowered me and countless other parents with truly priceless life-saving knowledge and skills, and we are forever grateful to you!

And to all of the mothers, fathers, and caregivers—may this book empower you with the knowledge, life-saving skills, and access to the most trusted resources to protect and keep your children safe!

Preface to the Second Edition – A Message to the Reader

(Please read this before proceeding. It’s important.)

This book was written to be a quick and easy read, with a very large payoff. By the time you’ve finished, you’ll:

Learn a core set of life-saving skills every parent needs to know.

Be an empowered parent who is aware and prepared for the unexpected.

Learn the most common—and not so common—threats to your children and family while learning precisely how to respond with skill, calm and confidence.

Have the ultimate peace of mind knowing your babysitter or caregiver also knows exactly what to do in an Emergency.

Be the protector and leader your children and family deserve.

Just one more thing …

I highly encourage you to connect with and join our Baby and Child Safety Master Class community of parents from all over the world.

Come on in, introduce yourself and let’s all cheer each other on!

To take a sneak peek inside our Master Class community, visit us here: www.ourchildskeeper.com/masterclass

Pediatric CPR and First Aid Updates

As a Pediatric and Adult CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor, I am required to get recertified every two years.

I was recertified on August 2, 2022, but while going through the recertification process, there were a number of very important updates to the guidelines and rescue sequences—including Baby CPR—that compelled me to write this Second Edition. I want to make sure you are aware of the most current protocols and safety education.

On August 10, 2022 I also became a Certified Babysitter’s Training Instructor through The American Red Cross to expand my knowledge and training. I believe it’s incredibly important for parents to remember that their children’s safety is their number one priority and responsibility, and that includes making sure whomever they entrust with their care also knows exactly what to do in an emergency.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

After publishing the First Edition, we were alerted to a partial recall of the Baby Rescue Bag Rapid Evacuation Device that we featured in the book. I wanted to include an excerpt of a letter from the Founder of Safety International, Rick Peters, in the event you purchased one for your home:

We discovered that certain production runs of the Baby Rescue devices, those manufactured after December 2018, were not made according to our specifications. The emergency-grade, nylon stitching used on earlier production runs to connect the device handle to the bag had been replaced by the manufacturer, without our approval, using a cheaper-grade, cotton stitching.

In the spirit of openness and freedom of information, anyone who is interested in learning more about Safety International’s correspondence and documentation with CPSC may contact me or my team. We will be happy to share more information upon request.

You can read the full safety notice from Mr. Peters here: www.mybabyrescue.com/founder-s-note

We also highly recommend searching the Consumer Product Safety Commission product recalls here to make sure you don’t currently have any recalled products in your home: www.cpsc.gov/recalls

Contents

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction

How to Significantly Lower the Risk of SIDS

How to Prevent an Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation

Recovery Positions

How to Save a Newborn and Baby from Choking

How to Perform Baby CPR

How to Save a Child from Choking

How to Perform Child CPR

Parent Awareness and The Million Little Things

How to Prevent an Accidental Drowning

Home and Apartment Fire Safety and Escape Plans

Allergic Reactions: Know What To Do in an Emergency

Pediatric First Aid: The Basics

How to Prevent an Accidental Poisoning

Babysitter CPR and First Aid Checklist

Epilogue: Your Child’s Safety Is My Life’s Work

There is no greater name for a leader than Mother or Father. There is no leadership more important than parenthood.

~ Sheri L. Dew

Just days after my son Markus turned two years old, he was sitting in his high-chair eating some fresh fruit that I had cut up for him for breakfast. Little did I know that just moments later, everything would change.

As I was watching him eat, all of a sudden, he just froze.

Everything stopped.

He dipped his head slightly and looked up at me, and in his eyes—the only way I could possibly begin to describe it—was a look of silent desperation and panic.

I instantly knew something was very wrong, and then I realized he couldn’t breathe. He was choking.

In moments like these, everything seems to go into slow motion. What I felt at my core while looking in his eyes was the sense that he was calling out to me to save him.

But here’s the thing: I didn’t know how.

I never learned a set of fundamental life-saving skills that we all should know as parents, but the reality is, most parents simply do not know any of them. I certainly didn’t.

There really aren’t words to describe the feelings you get when you’re a parent in the position I was in, with a child looking at you to save them, but you don’t know how.

If I had to put words to what I felt, the first ones that come to mind would be helpless, useless, and more to the point, deeply embarrassed.

Here I was, a father of four, and I didn’t even know something so basic?

In retrospect, what I didn’t even realize at the time was that I was unknowingly relying on luck, or anyone other than me, to save my own son.

That was my first mistake, and it was a mistake that could have cost Markus his life.

Here in the United States we’re taught from a very young age the narrative that in an emergency, we don’t actually need to save anyone, we should just call 911 and an Ambulance would come just in time to take over and save the day.

This idea of being able to rely on others, even professionals, in an emergency is a roll of the dice we really shouldn’t take for so many reasons that I will outline here in this book.

Did you know that the national average response time of 911 in the United States is over ten minutes?

I can tell you from my own experience that in a choking emergency, a child doesn’t have ten minutes, they only have between 30 and 180 seconds before they become unconscious, and within approximately three minutes neurons suffer more extensive damage and lasting brain damage becomes highly likely—and at five minutes, death becomes imminent.

The hard truth is, parents should never rely on luck, the police, firemen, or clearly even 911 to save our own children.

We need to be brighter than that.

We don’t have the time.

911: Underfunded, Understaffed, and Outdated

As if the average response time of ten minutes wasn’t bad enough, unfortunately, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I should first say that there are an estimated 240 million calls made to 911 in the United States each year, and the dispatchers really do amazing work that we should all be super grateful for.

The problems with 911 aren’t a reflection whatsoever on the dispatchers, as they are doing the very best they can with what they’ve got. It’s the system itself that has a whole host of issues that we need to be aware of, especially as parents.

For instance, most people aren’t aware of the fact that the 911 system is oftentimes underfunded, understaffed, and running on seriously outdated technology.

These days, an estimated 70 to 80% of calls to 911 come from wireless devices, and this is a huge problem.

Here’s why: Landlines are tied to the billing address, so the dispatchers know exactly where you are if you or a babysitter were to call with an emergency at home. But with wireless devices, 911’s deadly flaw is that the limited location data 911 dispatchers receive from wireless carriers varies far too wildly. Sometimes they might only get the location of the cell tower your call was routed through, which could be miles from where you actually are.

Did you know that the chances of 911 dispatchers quickly finding your location ranges from as low as 10% to as high as 95%?

In my research into 911, I found an extraordinary example of just how broken this system really is: An NBC News Reporter actually made a live cell phone call to a 911 center located in Virginia. He asked the dispatcher what address she was showing in the system that he was calling from.

Her response? An address that was about a quarter mile away.

As if it couldn’t get any worse, you’ll never guess where the NBC Reporter made the call from. He made the call while standing right next to the Fairfax County, Virginia, 911 Director from inside the actual 911 building overlooking the call center!

There are also circumstances where people have called 911 only to get an automated message to stay on hold due to the call center being severely understaffed.

Can you imagine seeing your child choking and calling 911, only to hear an automated message and then be put on hold?

Seriously?

It’s so hard to believe this actually happens, and that’s