The term head injury implies that someone has either fallen or has been struck by something and their head is injured. We are really talking about a potential brain injury. The brain is, of course, the most important structure in the skull and we want to make sure that that brain is in tact. The question that we ask in the emergency department and what we know paramedics will ask is did the baby or child lose consciousness. If that occurred and there was a loss of consciousness as a result of the injury, call 911 immediately. Keep the victim lying still. In some cases, it is safe to turn them on their side in the unlikely event that they vomit while they are unconscious. But it is vital that we get that baby or child to the hospital as soon as possible. In most cases however they will just be crying or a very upset baby or child with a welt or possibly a cut or a bruise. These can just be monitored by you and followed up with a call to the pediatrician and that is usually sufficient. It is also important to remember that it is okay to let babies and kids sleep after they have been injured of this type but not to worry about them falling asleep and not waking up. We just need to be able to arouse them simply from sleep with a little bit of stimulus.