It's high time that we carefully consider aggressively resuscitating injured children with multiple crystalloid boluses. A recent multicenter study provides a powerful reminder to go to blood sooner.
This guideline from the Centers for Disease Control is based on a previous systematic review of the literature and includes clinical recommendations for mild traumatic brain injury in children. — Read on jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2698456 I'd definitely consider this a must read.
Sure, you could just jam a 14 gauge angiocath into the intercostal space and listen for the whoosh of air that may and may not come... But why not try this method, which takes a few seconds longer to set up, but gives you better feedback and allows you to temporarily close the system in preparation for a formal chest tube.
This Starter Pack has useful articles dealing with head injuries in children.
Listen to this episode of PEM Currents, the Pediatric Emergency Medicine podcast and learn more about the management of elevated intracranial pressure.