The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s (OCDEL) Bureau of Certification has provided tips on how to remove a tick from a child and which symptoms to keep an eye on.

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Ticks have eight legs, are very small, and can attach to a person to suck blood. In Pennsylvania, many ticks carry diseases and can be found outdoors in areas with long grass and weeks, leaf piles, the woods, or in the backyard.

It is important to remove a tick as soon as the insect is found embedded in the skin. The longer a tick is attached to a child or adult increases the risk of Lyme disease transmission.

Removing a Tick

Early childhood educators who are removing a tick from a child should:

• Use tweezers and grasp the tick close to the skin (on its head).
• Hold the tweezers sideways next to the skin surface.
• Pull the tick straight upward without twisting or crushing it.
• Maintain a steady pressure until it releases its grip.
• If you don’t have tweezers, you can use your fingers.
• It is not helpful to cover the tick with petroleum jelly, nail polish, rubbing alcohol, a soapy cotton ball, or a hot or cold object.

If the tick’s head breaks off in the skin during removal, caregivers should remove any large parts, clean the skin with rubbing alcohol, or use clean tweezers to uncover the head and scrape it off.

If the tick is so small that tweezers or fingers don’t work, use the edge of a credit card to scrape it off the skin. If a small piece of the head remains, the skin will slowly shed it.

After Removing a Tick

After the tick has been removed, early childhood educators should:

• Wash the wound and your hands with soap and water after removal. This helps to prevent catching any disease carried by the tick. 
• Inform the parent or guardian that you have removed a tick from the child. Alert them to watch the bite area for the appearance of a rash. If a rash appears or the child becomes ill, the child will need medical care.

Tick bites typically don’t hurt or itch – which is why they are not often noticed. If the tick transfers a disease, a rash will appear in the next two to four weeks.

Caregivers should contact a health care provider if they can’t remove the tick, fever or rash occurs in the next four weeks, or the bite starts to look infected. 

To prevent tick bites, perform daily checks on children after outdoor play. Children should wear light clothing, so ticks can be spotted and tuck their socks into pants, avoid tall grass, and stay on clear paths outdoors.