WHEN TO TAKE YOUR CHILD TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

By Dr. Neal Shipley

Submitted by G.T.

It’s important for parents to understand that children are not just little adults.  Early on in life, their immune systems are less capable for fighting off infections.  A ‘minor’ injury or infection to an adult might have serious consequences for a small child.  Doctors have to look carefully for signs of serious illness that might be different from adults.

One way to approach this is to think about ABCDE:

“A” stands for Airway.  Anything that blocks or interferes with a child’s or infant’s airway  could be an emergency.  So if a child is choking on something, then you should call 911 and get your child to the emergency room.

“B” stands for Breathing.  If your child is having difficulty breathing, appears to be struggling to get a breath, or has an unusually rapid or unusually slow breathing rate, than he or she need medical attention right away.

“C” stands for Circulation and also for Consciousness.  If your child is bleeding and you can’t control the bleeding with direct pressure, than he or she needs to go to the hospital.  If your child is unconscious, has a high fever, is confused, acting strangely, or ‘not himself’, or is limp, lifeless and hard to arouse, he also needs the ER.

“D” stands for Disability and also for Dehydration.  If your child has had an injury and can’t walk or won’t move part of his or her body;  if he has abdominal pain with fever and is vomiting or having diarrhea to the point that not enough fluids can be retained, then you should take your child to the hospital right away.

“E” stands for Environmental exposure.  This represents a broad category of injuries that includes accidental poisoning, electrical shocks, burns, frostbite, heat-related illness or trauma—any of which could be serious and warrant immediate medical attention.

The bottom line is that while the ER is certainly meant for emergencies, I always tell patients to trust their instincts when it comes to their children—they know them best.  If your child looks sick to you, then he or she probably is sick, and should be seen by a doctor.