My new friend, Faith, over at the “Hoping to Adopt Blog” had a scary visit to the emergency room last week with her seven year old son. He was experiencing a severe asthma attack, during which she was unable to stabilize him at home. She made the decision to rush him to the emergency room and she shared some of their “bad” experience with me.

He was coughing like crazy and wasn’t able stop coughing even to gasp for air, so she gave him two puffs of Albuterol from his inhaler. When he showed no signs of improvement after she administered his “rescue drug,” she rushed him to the hospital.
Naturally, she expected the emergency room staff to realize that her child was experiencing a medical crisis, and expected them to act accordingly. If the staff wasn’t able to “see” that the child was in crisis as she ran through the doors with him in her arms, they should have gotten a clue, when she yelled, "My son is having an asthma attack and he needs medical attention, NOW!"

Instead, they pointed her to the admission person who wanted her to fill out paperwork first. She wasn’t about to tolerate their brush off, with her son’s life in the balance. Don’t worry; she soon had the staff scurrying about. Still she wondered if she could have handled it differently.

It may seem like you’re taking action, if you’re driving the car to get to the emergency room. However, if your child’s lips or fingernails are turning blue or gray, you may want to call an ambulance. The EMT’s can provide emergency medical treatment when they arrive, and speed, more safely than you can, to the hospital. People arriving on gurneys seem to get attention immediately. If you are driving to the E.R. with an emergency, you can call or have someone else call, to let the E.R. know you are coming, and what your emergency involves. If you have someone else to make calls on your behalf, contact your child’s doctor and have the doctor notify the E.R. about your child arriving. Most Emergency Rooms have triage nurses evaluate incoming patients.

Related Sites:
Hoping to adopt?
Top Ten Suggestions for a New Asthmatic
Sports (or Exercise) Induced Asthma

(C) Julia Fuller 2006