Parents: The Emergency Room and Your Child

When should you take your child to the emergency room? What should you bring with you? What can you do to help your child when receiving emergency care? These questions and more will be answered. Being a mother of four children and also an experienced emergency room employee, I have learned what you should know and do, when taking your child for emergency medical treatment.

When should I take my child to the emergency room? This is often a question parents have to ask themselves. As parents, many times we decide to error on the side of caution when it comes to the heath of our child. If time allows and it is not an emergent situation, a call to your pediatrician is a good idea. Often times they can give you advice whether a trip to the emergency room is warranted. They may actually be able to offer you the option of coming into the office immediately. If your doctor's office is closed you can still reach the doctor on call. Many pediatrician's office number will connect you to an answering service. They will be able to contact the doctor on call for you. Emergent situations that need to be seen in an emergency room can include falls, broken bones, large cuts, head injuries, poisonings, allergic reactions, trouble breathing, burns and more. Keep in mind you know your child better than anyone else. The best way to decide if you need to take your child to the emergency room is your own instincts.

Be prepared when taking your child, toddler or baby to the emergency room. Do you have their health insurance and social security cards? Do you have your drivers license with you? It is a good idea make sure you have all your documents with you. This will help speed up the registration time. The secretary will be able to process your admission papers more quickly and efficiently.

Other documentation or information you should bring with you are a list of medications your child is currently taking. It is always a good idea to keep a list of prescription drugs your child takes in your wallet or purse. You may also bring the prescription bottles with you. Be prepared to answer the question, " When was the last time your child had any type of medication?" This includes Tylenol, Motrin or any other over the counter medications, not just prescription drugs. You will also be asked if your child has been running a fever. Be prepared to answer what the temperature readings were and the last time you took it.

Remember to be patient and calm. Children, toddlers and even babies have great instincts. They can intuitively know when their parent is upset, angry or feeling out of control. Those feelings will effect your child. This is very important to remember. I can not count the times I have seen a parent out of control and their child feeding off those feelings. The child will become scared, cry and upset. They rely on you as their support. When they see you expressing extreme feelings it will have a detrimental effect on their emotions too. I have seen a very simple X-ray turn into a nightmare for a child. The child is terrified of what is happening to them, simply because they see a parent expressing extreme fear or agitation. I do understand that a parent in an emergent situation with a child, is scared and fearful. That is completely understandable. It is when a parent is outwardly projecting that fear in an extreme way, that it becomes a problem for the child. Your child is scared enough in an emergency room's unfamiliar surroundings. The best thing you can do is encourage, love, reassure your child and help them cope with their own fears.

Do I stay or go in the room when my child receives a test or procedure? This is another good question to ask yourself. Many times hospital staff will ask you leave the room when they need to render certain treatments or test. There is a reason they do that. Taking blood, inserting a catheter, or taking an X-ray can be very emotional and scary. Your child will cry and be upset. The staff wants to render care as quickly and as efficiently as possible. They have treated thousands of children. They know how to handle children who are upset. Their goal is not to be mean or torture a child. They know the quicker treatment is rendered, the faster the child's unpleasant experience will end. When an adult is in the room a child may become even more aggressive screaming and reaching for a parent. This can very emotional for a parent. A child also does not understand why a parent is watching and not stopping the treatment. They can not comprehend the situation. Sometimes it is better to let the staff do their job alone. When they are finished you can be the hero. You can come in and hug, kiss and reassure your little one. Let them dislike the staff and not you for standing there and watching. If it is too uncomfortable for you to leave the room that is understandable too. Just let the staff do what they need to do and then comfort your child when they are finished.

Be prepared to hurry up and wait. When you enter an emergency room a triage nurse will evaluate your child's condition. Their job is to prioritize treat for all those who enter the emergency room. If the nurse feels your child can wait because there are more emergent cases, you will have to wait. Emergency rooms do not work on a first come first serve basis. You must also remember there are patients already being seen, and even more coming in by ambulance. They may have several emergency cases arriving via ambulance, that need to be seen before your child. By the way ambulance patients are not necessarily seen first either. They follow the same triage rules as walk in patients do.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. Any good doctor or nurse will welcome questions. It is your child, toddler or baby they are treating. You have every right to be assured your little one is receiving the best care possible. Never feel intimidated by a doctor or nurse. You know your child better than anyone else does. If you have a question ask it. If you feel they need more information about your child tell them. They do not know your child's habits or typical behavior. For example, when my daughter was a baby she had a habit of pulling her ear. It was not due to an ear infection. One day she had to see a new pediatrician. The new doctor not knowing her or her habits prescribed an antibiotic. When I asked him why, he explained that even though her ear was not red, it was a precaution because she was pulling her ear. When I explained that she always did that the doctor then chose not to give her medication.

Taking your child to an emergency room can be a very scary experience for both child and parent. The best way to lesson anxiety is to be prepared. Hopefully the tips explained above can help you and your child ease the trauma of an emergency room visit.