When a child, yours or anyone else's, becomes injured it is imperative to remain calm. Not only is the young person looking to the adult for a steady arm of reassurance, but they are also depending on the grown-up to know how best to handle the situation. A panicked adult will only serve to upset the child while at the same time, the adult may lose the ability to make good decisions as to how to help.

One example of how children pick up on the adult's demeanor may be illustrated by a minor incident that happened to a neighbor's five year old son many years ago. He, his mother, and I were going to go bike riding together. The boy and I were waiting outside while his mother was inside getting ready.

The little boy, being impatient to get started, began riding in circles at the end of the driveway and had the misfortune of falling in the gravel. I didn't immediately make a dive to pick him up as his mother usually did during such mishaps, but casually asked him if he was alright as he stood up. He was calm, though he'd skinned his knee. I looked at it and told him he was okay and that he'd live, as I gave a chuckle to help reinforce the idea that all was well in order to keep him calm. He never shed a tear. The next thing I knew, his mother came out, saw the minor scrape, and made a big issue of it. Then, of course, her son became badly upset and began crying. He would've been fine had his mother remained calm.

Panic, no matter the situation, doesn't help one to decide the best actions to take, either. Our daughter-in-law froze at the wheel of her car and rolled it, though had she stayed calm and used her head, the accident wouldn't have happened. Such can be the case in an emergency with a child, or anyone else for that matter. During panic, thought processes become clouded and can hinder proper action, just as it kept our daughter-in-law from safely slowing and steering her car to a stop.

One gray, autumn day my husband and I were returning home from a neighboring town and happened upon two youngsters who had overturned their large four wheeler on an outlying, rural road. As we pulled to a stop, the boy, who looked to be barely in his teens, was trying valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to lift the four wheeler off of his younger sister's leg as she sat shaken, screaming, and crying on the pavement. Understandably, they both were in a state of panic.

My husband was able to help get the ATV back on it's wheels and off the girl, and while he was examining

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