Which signs in a child mean seeking help immediately?
Call 998 or attend an emergency department for breathing difficulty, unresponsiveness, a seizure, a rash that does not fade under pressure, or a child who cannot be roused. For infants under three months, any fever needs prompt assessment.
Life-threatening symptoms: call 998 for an ambulance
In the UAE, 998 is the ambulance number, 999 is police and 997 is civil defence. Do not wait for a WhatsApp reply, a callback or a home-visit window when someone may be having a heart attack or stroke, cannot breathe, is unresponsive, is bleeding heavily or is deteriorating quickly.
- Working hard to breathe: fast breathing, grunting, flaring nostrils, or skin pulling in between the ribs
- Floppy, unusually drowsy, or difficult to wake
- A rash that does not fade when pressed with a clear glass
- A seizure, or any first seizure
- Refusing all fluids, or no wet nappy for many hours
- Any fever in a baby under three months
- A parent's sense that this child is different from any previous illness
What should you actually watch overnight?
Four things: drinking, breathing, alertness and wet nappies or trips to the toilet. Together they say more about how a child is doing than any temperature reading, and they are easy to check repeatedly without waking a settled child.
Drinking
Small, frequent sips count. Persistent refusal of all fluid matters more than a missed meal.
Breathing
Look at the chest, not just listen. Effort and speed matter more than a cough's sound.
Alertness
Does the child respond, make eye contact, and settle again after being unsettled?
Output
Wet nappies or normal trips to the toilet are a practical measure of hydration.
Clinic or home visit for a child at night?
A home visit can suit a stable child with a non-emergency problem when travel is difficult. A clinic is better when tests or a longer examination may be needed. Emergency care is for any of the warning signs above.
Bring the details, not the diagnosis
Have the child's age and weight, their medicines, the time of the last dose, and any vaccination or allergy information ready. Weight matters because paediatric dosing depends on it.
Common questions
My child has a fever but is playing normally. Do I need to do anything tonight?
A child who is alert, drinking and playing is generally reassuring, whatever the reading. Keep offering fluids, recheck how they look every few hours, and seek advice if their behaviour changes.
How do I check a rash?
Press the side of a clear glass firmly against it. A rash that stays visible through the glass rather than fading needs urgent assessment.
Can I give my child medicine left over from a previous illness?
No. Doses change as children grow, leftover antibiotic courses are incomplete by definition, and the previous illness may have been something different.
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