Smoke Inhalation in a Child and Long-Term Effects
Setting: fantasy world, technology level roughly equivalent to the middle ages.
I am currently working on piece of writing in which one of my main characters was exposed to a fire within her home at a very young age. Her placement within the home spared her external burns, but she was exposed to a fair amount of smoke.
My questions are as follows:
How would moderate smoke inhalation in a young child (8 mos. to a year of age) be treated given the level of medical knowledge one might find in the middle ages?
As an adult, could this character suffer any lingering long-term effects from this event? ie. shortness of breath, susceptibility to pulmonary issues, etc.
I have Googled 'smoke inhalation,' 'medieval medicine,' 'smoke inhalation in infants,' 'long-term effects of smoke inhalation,' and various combinations of the above words. I have also referenced the 'medicine: burns and smoke inhalation' tag within the community.
I have found plenty of information on the symptoms and complications of smoke inhalation, as well as methods of treatment, but none of those treatments seem to translate well to a world in which the wonders of modern medicine are unknown. Now I do have a bit of wiggle-room in regards to treatment, given that the character that rescues her has some medical knowledge beyond that of the rest of society, but he obviously does not have access to pure oxygen, etc.
There also seems to be remarkably little information on the long-term effects of smoke inhalation, save for a few references to a subway fire in which some of the victims continued to have problems a couple of years after the incident... but there were no details. I don't know if the lack of information is because once a victim recovers, they don't have many issues.. or if my Google-fu is failing me.
Thank you for any help you can offer!
I am currently working on piece of writing in which one of my main characters was exposed to a fire within her home at a very young age. Her placement within the home spared her external burns, but she was exposed to a fair amount of smoke.
My questions are as follows:
How would moderate smoke inhalation in a young child (8 mos. to a year of age) be treated given the level of medical knowledge one might find in the middle ages?
As an adult, could this character suffer any lingering long-term effects from this event? ie. shortness of breath, susceptibility to pulmonary issues, etc.
I have Googled 'smoke inhalation,' 'medieval medicine,' 'smoke inhalation in infants,' 'long-term effects of smoke inhalation,' and various combinations of the above words. I have also referenced the 'medicine: burns and smoke inhalation' tag within the community.
I have found plenty of information on the symptoms and complications of smoke inhalation, as well as methods of treatment, but none of those treatments seem to translate well to a world in which the wonders of modern medicine are unknown. Now I do have a bit of wiggle-room in regards to treatment, given that the character that rescues her has some medical knowledge beyond that of the rest of society, but he obviously does not have access to pure oxygen, etc.
There also seems to be remarkably little information on the long-term effects of smoke inhalation, save for a few references to a subway fire in which some of the victims continued to have problems a couple of years after the incident... but there were no details. I don't know if the lack of information is because once a victim recovers, they don't have many issues.. or if my Google-fu is failing me.
Thank you for any help you can offer!