Look at a child and an adult, standing side by side, and you can see the most\u00a0obvious difference between the two–size. Usually, the adult is larger than the child.<\/p>\n
There are, however, other differences between children and adults. For example, a\u00a0child’s volume of blood is much less than an adult’s volume of blood. Your awareness\u00a0and knowledge of such differences is essential to effective management of pediatric\u00a0emergencies.<\/p>\n
Some important differences between children and adults include the\u00a0following:<\/p>\n
a. A child’s head is larger in proportion to his body than an adult’s head is in\u00a0proportion to his body.<\/p>\n
b. In babies, the body’s temperature control mechanism is immature and\u00a0unstable.<\/p>\n
c. Children have smaller airways with more soft tissue and a narrowing at the\u00a0cricoid cartilage.<\/p>\n
d. The respiratory rate of a child is faster than that of an adult.<\/p>\n
e. A child’s trachea opening and the esophagus opening are closer together\u00a0than in an adult.<\/p>\n
f. Children dehydrate easily.<\/p>\n
g. Children have less blood than adults. This makes children at greater risk than\u00a0adults from bleeding to death or developing severe shock from a relatively minor wound.<\/p>\n
h. Children have faster heart rates.<\/p>\n
i. Young children’s extremities are likely to appear mottled. This condition may\u00a0be a response to cold because of an immature temperature control rather than a\u00a0response to poor circulation.<\/p>\n
j. Children have more skin surface area in relation to body weight than an adult.\u00a0This fact means that a child loses more fluid across damaged skin; for example, a\u00a0severely burned child may lose a great deal of fluid.<\/p>\n
k. A child has less muscle and fat mass than an adult. Therefore, a child has\u00a0less padding and is more vulnerable to blunt trauma than an adult.<\/p>\n
l. A child’s abdominal organs are relatively larger than an adult’s. A child’s\u00a0diaphragm is lower than adults. A child, therefore, is more likely to suffer injuries to the\u00a0liver, spleen, and duodenum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Look at a child and an adult, standing side by side, and you can see the most\u00a0obvious difference between the two–size. Usually, the adult is larger than the child. There are, however, other differences between children and adults. For example, a\u00a0child’s volume of blood is much less than an adult’s volume of blood. Your awareness\u00a0and … Continue reading 3-02. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHILDREN AND ADULTS<\/span>