Accidents will happen, and you may find yourself suddenly needing to take a family member to the emergency room, or urgent care. It is important to be prepared to handle these events in calm and quick manner. Recently I took my twenty-month-old in for stitches on his chin. It was a relatively easy process, because I had prepared for the possibility in advance. Here are five things you should have ready in case you need to make a trip.
1) You should have your insurance cards and other important medical information on hand. If you are going to an emergency room or urgent care they will not have a file for you, so you should know any special medical concerns, and allergies that your child may have. You can store this information in a binder that you can grab as you leave the house.
2) You should have basic first aid supplies on hand, so that you can reduce swelling and minimize any bleeding. You should have an ice pack available. If you do not, you can easily make one by putting ice cubes in a Ziploc bag and wrapping it in a towel. If you do not store the ice in a bag, as it melts it will make a big mess. Gauze pads are nice if you are applying pressure to stop bleeding. You do not remove the gauze pads is they have soaked through, but just put more on top of them.
3) If it is close to meal or snack time you should grab something to take with you before you leave. A trip to the emergency room or an urgent care can take several hours. If you are having x-rays or lab work done it can make the trip even longer. The wait will be easier on children if they are not hungry. If your child is vomiting from a head injury, you should not him.
4) You should plan on being there awhile. You need to take activities, which are age appropriate for your children. These should be quiet activities, and you may want to pack a bag specifically for this purpose. You may want to include coloring books, storybooks, and stickers in your bag. You may want to have your older children take a book or a handheld game.
5) You should know your nearest urgent care and its operating hours. You should also know your nearest emergency room. I remember as a young child being rushed to the urgent care (I need stitches badly) only for my dad to realize that it had closed fifteen minutes earlier, We then drove to the emergency room, which was actually closer to home.