The first time we took my son to the emergency room, he was 4 years old and having his first asthma attack. It was plenty scary; his blood oxygen got so low that his toenails turned blue. Yet, I felt grateful that it was “only” asthma. I had assumed an ER visit was a parental rite of passage, and there are worse things that can take you there. Still, I was completely unprepared.
I had only a vague idea of where the local ER was and had no idea if the hospital was any good. And with no one on call to watch my daughter, Dad stayed home, and I flew solo for the scary ordeal.
I’m not alone. Every year, 30 million children visit U.S. emergency rooms, and it turns out that very few parents prepare ahead of time.
William Sears, MD, the granddaddy of all child-health experts (he’s written 30 books on the subject and has 8 kids of his own), would like to change that. He’s teamed up with the Child Life Council as well as the maker of a new type of kids’ skin-numbing product to offer tips for parents.
Next page: 7 tips from Dr. Sears and my own 5 ER visits
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