How do Charlotte’s obs compare to those of a healthy child?

So far so good? There are no immediately worrying signs identified, but those that we would want to identify in the history include the following red flags:

• Premature birth
• Off feeds or reduced fluid intake
• Fever for more than 5 days
• Swelling of a joint or non-weight bearing
• Seizure
• Reduced urine output

These red flag signs should make you more concerned about how unwell the child is and should act as an “alarm bell” when making an assessment.

Now we need to start to look for a cause of the fever. This is clearly difficult in the pre-hospital environment and will very much depend on the ability and confidence of the clinician. The main aim of this examination is to identify the potential for serious illness therefore should be broken down into systems.

What are the normal observations for a 7-year-old? If you were not certain, where would you look for find out? Compare and discuss Charlotte’s assessment against normal observations in the comment section, making sure you highlight any other red flags you think may be important.