How to find the best ER for your child
By ersmommy1
@ersmommy1 (12588)
United States
April 10, 2008 2:08pm CST
The nurse put an adult-sized mask on 9-month-old (they didn't have anything else). The mask was huge, and baby couldn't easily inhale the medicine to treat her asthma attack, Then they had a hard time getting babys' blood pressure because the adult cuff was gigantic on her tiny arm. Everything was geared to adults. asked, 'Don't you have a pediatrician here?' and the doctor told me, 'No, we don't keep a pediatrician in the emergency room.
Anybody had this experience? This is awful and scary!
Pediatric ERs have child-sized equipment, pediatricians on staff
Before an emergency strikes, know where the nearest children's hospital is
Always carry a list of your child's medications
Call your pediatrician on the way to the emergency room
1 person likes this
5 responses
@DaddyOfTheRose (2934)
• United States
14 Apr 08
This sounds like excellent advice, but parents are often more than a little stressed when an emergency happens. Calling the pediatrician sounds great, but it is easy to forget. Once you are on the road, you are probably headed to some hospital nearby and calling the pediatrician on your cell phone. By the time the exchange calls the doctor and the doctor calls you, you have invested a bit of time and mileage in heading to the nearest hospital. It seems unlikely that the doctor will advice you to go somewhere else, but worth the effort. It might be that Hospital X is a big problem or would just be a transfer and ambulance ride to get to the one you want to be at for the problem at hand. One would hope the pediatrician could help with those situations, at least.
It might be worth asking your pediatrician about recommended ERs during an office visit and knowing ahead of time where you'd want to take your child.
1 person likes this
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
1 Aug 08
I have never experienced this before. I bet that made you feel like you were in the wrong place for help for your child. That is awful that they were not equipped for all people of all ages. We only have one hospital ER close by to go to. They are equipped for people of all ages.
@above31rubies (1863)
• United States
10 Apr 08
Wow- they really should be prepared for anything...that's ridiculous.
@sherrylwatts (326)
• United States
10 Apr 08
That is scary - We have a Children's Hospital here, with a Children's ER, but it is at least an hour away. I've been lucky that my petites have never needed to go to the ER, but I'm certainly going to look into this at our closest ER. As awful as it sounds, I just always assumed they would have the equipment to treat children...very disturbing.
