Emergency medical care for your child

Children can get sick very quickly. As the child’s parents, you’ll of course want them to be seen as soon as possible, especially at night or during holidays. This page will help you stay calm and act in this situation. It categorizes symptoms into those that need immediate guidance, and those that can wait until normal hours.

*Every child is different. Know your child’s normal level of health so you know when to act if something seems strange.

During an emergency, either call 119 for emergency medical care, or check the list of doctors-on-duty if it’s a nighttime, weekend, or holiday. Local municipal governments print this information in their newsletters as well.

• Emergency Medical Care
• Doctors on duty during weekends and holidays (JPN only)（外部リンク）

Symptom list

A fever （発熱, hatsunetsu）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Has a high fever, also has diarrhea or vomiting
• Seems unwell, has trouble breathing
• Convulsions
• Is younger than 4 months old

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Has a fever between 37.5℃～38℃ and seems to feel okay
• Face color is normal
• Has an appetite

What you can do at home

• Give them plenty of water
• Use an ice pack to cool their forehead
• Change clothes if they get sweaty

Convulsion （けいれん, keiren or ひきつけ, hikitsuke）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Convulsions continue for 10 minutes or more, and don’t seem to be stopping
• Convulsions happen twice in one day
• Consciousness doesn’t return for more than 15 minutes
• Keeps vomiting
• Can’t feel their hands or feet afterward
• First-ever convulsion happens during a fever

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Baby is conscious and alert, and responds to you calling them

What you can do at home

• Take off any tight or constricting clothes, and lay them down gently
• Keep their head facing to the side. If they vomit, this will prevent them from choking

Diarrhea （下痢, geri）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Has diarrhea many times in one day, and doesn’t seem to feel well
• Also has high fever, vomiting, or pains in chest
• Bloody stool
• Lack of urination

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Doesn’t happen too much in one day （up to 5 times）
• No fever, seems to feel okay
• Normal urination
• Can drink water

What you can do at home

• Change their diaper and wash their bottom
• Give them plenty of water （such as a little bit of ion-water for children）

Cough （せき, seki）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Has a cough and a fever, doesn’t seem well
• Has a dry cough, or has a severe wet cough, has trouble breathing
• Has trouble breathing, breathing fast
• Blue color in the face, fingernails, and lips

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Seems to feel okay, has an appetite
• Doesn’t seem to have trouble, can sleep

What you can do at home

• Dry air should be avoided, so keep a humidifier in the room
• Give them plenty of water

Vomiting （吐く, haku or 嘔吐, outo）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Blood or a yellow substance （bile） in the vomit
• Convulsions or a lack of consciousness
• Intense crying
• Lack of urination （has not urinated for a few hours）
• Severe stomach pains and headache

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Feels okay after vomiting
• Can drink water
• No fever or diarrhea, doesn’t seem to feel unwell

What you can do at home

• Give them plenty of water （such as ion-water for children）
• Have them sleep on their side （to prevent choking on vomit）

Stomachache （腹痛, fukutsuu or お腹が痛い, onaka ga itai ）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Hunched over in pain
• Painful if stomach is touched
• Also has diarrhea or vomiting
• Bloody stool
• Doesn’t seem well, keeps crying

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Pain has subsided and doesn’t seem to bother the child as much
• Feels better after having a bowel movement

What you can do at home

• Bring them to the bathroom and encourage them to have a bowel movement
• Don’t force them to eat. Give them a little bit of water and check how they feel.

Hit in the head （頭を打った, atama wo utta）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Not conscious
• Don’t respond if you speak to them, falls asleep quickly or any other loss of consciousness
• Has convulsions
• Vomits many times
• Severe bleeding

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• The child may have cried immediately afterwards, but once the pain subsides, they return to normal and have a normal appetite
• Is conscious, their eyes and hands are moving normally, and don’t seem any different than normal

What you can do at home

• If there is swelling, press a wet towel to cool the area for around 20 minutes
• In the 1-2 days following the incident, keep a close watch on their appetite and face color

Accidental ingestion （誤飲、誤食, goin, goshoku）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• Has convulsions
• Loss of consciousness
• Drank kerosene, gasoline, other flammable substances, bleach, or other strong acids or alkaloids
• Swallowed a button battery
• Vomits blood
• Ingested something sharp

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Ate a little bit of a cigarette （around 2cm）
• Ate a crayon, soap, paper, plastic, pencil graphite, incense stick
• Licked ink, paint, or cosmetics

What you can do at home

• If you spot a foreign object in their mouth, try to take it out with your index finger
• If an object is lodged in their throat, keep their head facing down and firmly tap their back

Burns （やけど, yakedo）

See a doctor immediately （even during nights or holidays）

• The burn is larger than an adult’s palm
• A subcutaneous burn that looks black or white

Wait and see（wait until normal doctor’s hours）

• Just a red mark without any blistering
• Burn is only in a small area

What you can do at home

• Run the burn under tap water for about 20 minutes
• If it’s a large burn, cover it and keep it cool until you can see a doctor （However, be careful of hypothermia）

Checklist for seeing the doctor

You must bring

• Maternal and Child Health book
• Health insurance card
• Doctor’s office card （if you have been there before, they will have handed this card to you at the end）
• Something to help you describe the child’s symptoms （any notes on their temperature, samples of stool or vomit）
• Names of any prescription medicine they are taking （if you have a medicine record book, bring that）

Other things that will help

• Change of clothes, a towel, diapers, tissues, etc
• Toys and books for the time in the waiting room
• Notepad and writing utensil to take notes of the doctor’s orders

What the doctor may ask you

• What are the symptoms? （Do they have a fever? Worrying symptoms? Do they have an appetite? What does their stool look like? Etc）
• How long have they had these symptoms? （Month, day, and time）
• Has the child had any serious illnesses before?
• Is the child taking any medicine currently?
• Does the child have food or medicine allergies?
• Does any member of the family have the same symptoms?