• More than 30 million American children receive emergency care each year. Parents can prepare for an emergency by having the phone number and office hours of their child’s pediatrician easily accessible. Parents should also know what services their pediatrician offers.
• Crozer-Keystone physicians advise that not all childhood injuries and illnesses require emergency care, and some — such as minor foot/ankle injuries or fever — can be treated with simple remedies. They say that sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry, however.
• All emergency departments within the Crozer-Keystone Health System have a pediatrician on call 24 hours a day. Crozer’s Emergency Department provides 24-hour pediatric care for surgical, urgent medical, and traumatic conditions.

Does your child have a bruised knee or a fractured bone? Is your infant running a low-grade fever, or is there possibility for a serious illness? Should you go to the emergency department or should you wait?

These are just some of the thoughts that may flash through a concerned parent’s mind in an emergency. Identifying a pediatric emergency versus a routine illness can be very difficult.

According to the Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 30 million American children receive emergency care annually. Parents want the best for their children, and in the situation of a possible emergency they will often take action as if it is the worst-case scenario. Children and infants who come to one of the four Crozer-Keystone Health System emergency departments are usually treated for minor illnesses and complaints such as fever, lacerations, sprains, and fractures. Every parent should be prepared for a pediatric emergency, and should know when an emergency department visit is necessary. 

The first thing parents should do to prepare for a pediatric emergency is to have the phone number and office hours of their child’s pediatrician easily accessible. If the emergency occurs after office hours, as they often do, parents should contact the pediatrician on call. It is also important for parents to know what services their pediatrician offers. For example, stitches, blood work or X-rays might not be a provided service by a pediatrician. In that case, a visit to an emergency department would be in order.

There are a few ways parents can decide if the illness or injury needs immediate attention or can be treated at home. The possibility of a fracture and the idea that a bone has to be seen and X-rayed right away is not always the case. Only if the child has a visible displacement does he/she need immediate care. If there is minimal pain and minor swelling, then it can wait.

“Waiting a day to see if the pain goes away is not an act of negligence or bad parenting,” says Lloyd Feigenbaum, M.D., director of the Emergency Department at Springfield Hospital. “A lot of the minor foot and ankle injuries are better in a day. I have seen a lot of children who ‘couldn’t walk’ who are running around the ER by the end of their visit.” Elevating the injury and treating it with ice and a pain reliever (such as Tylenol or Advil) for the first day is a sensible treatment. 

Fever is another common misconception. According to Victor Heresniak, D.O., chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, if the child is running a fever but is still playful and looks normal, then the fever can be treated with the recommended dosage of Tylenol.

Fever in infants is a different situation. If the infant is under three months old and is running a temperature of 100.4º, then medical attention is necessary. Contact your physician or visit an emergency department as soon as possible.

Parents should be comfortable with the decisions they make. “Don’t wait,” says Gregory Cuculino, M.D., chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Taylor Hospital. “If you are still concerned and are not content with the child’s health, then by all means bring them to the emergency room. In the end, it is always better to be safe than sorry.”

In the event that emergency care is needed for your child, then remember to stay calm. John F. Reilly Jr., D.O., chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, says, “Children and even infants can sense when their parents’ stress and anxiety levels are on the rise. Try to stay calm, and take comfort in the fact that your child is on his/her way to receiving help and assistance.”

All emergency departments within the Crozer-Keystone Health System have a pediatrician on call 24 hours a day. In addition, Crozer’s Emergency Department provides 24-hour pediatric care for surgical, urgent medical and traumatic conditions. Crozer is the only CKHS hospital with a dedicated pediatric inpatient unit.

Crozer-Keystone Health System has demonstrated its dedication to providing optimal care and services to infants and children in the area through its two recent ED construction projects.

Delaware County Memorial Hospital’s new Emergency Department is equipped with a large and friendly patient waiting area that also includes a designated play area for children. The Critical Intensive Care Unit has a secluded and quiet waiting area for families dealing with a crisis situation. Crozer’s new Emergency Department, which is under construction and is expected to be completed in 2006, will have designated pediatric waiting and treatment areas.