As an amazing mom, you’ll spend a lot of time looking after your children. However, even when you keep a watchful eye on them, children can suddenly become sick or get seriously injured. It’s not your fault when this happens — that’s just the way it goes sometimes. What matters is that you jump into action fast to ensure that your child gets the urgent care that they need. This way, there will be no negative consequences, and your child can quickly return to full health. 

hospital emergency room

My Child Needs Urgent Care: What Should I Do? 

The moment your child becomes sick or injured, take them to a children’s hospital right away. Here, your child will be able to receive urgent treatment for whatever their specific problem is, whether it’s a severe headache or a broken bone. Furthermore, there are also urgent care centers which provide walk-in care, such as AFC Urgent Care, if the children’s hospital is too far away from your location. 

Children’s hospitals exist because they provide you with a safe and secure place to go when your child’s primary caregiver (i.e., the doctor’s office) is closed or too far away. With a children’s hospital, you can go in and be seen extremely quickly, which will give you some much-needed peace of mind in those heart-racing emergencies that often happen with children. 

When to Take Your Child to a Hospital Emergency Department 

Sometimes, it can be difficult to know whether you should take your child to the children’s hospital emergency department or not. In many cases, parents simply assume that their child will be fine and make a recovery on their own. Or, parents think that it’s not a true emergency and they can take their child to the doctor the next day. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the legitimate cases when you should take your child to the emergency department: 

  • Broken bones
  • Head injury 
  • Eye injury 
  • Sleepy or confused behavior
  • Burns
  • Ingestion of a foreign substance

Many parents also panic when their child faints. In most cases, fainting is nothing to worry about and isn’t an emergency situation. However, you should take your child to the hospital if they’ve fainted while running, they can’t be immediately woken up, or you’ve had a previous family member die at a young age. Remember, it’s always best to be on the safe side, especially with children. 

Tips for Handling Emergency Situations Involving Your Child 

If one of your children ever becomes seriously sick or injured, here are some general tips that you should try to remember: 

  • Don’t panic 
  • Use any first aid you’ve learned 
  • Call 911 or your local emergency number if your child isn’t breathing or is unresponsive
  • Remember important information (e.g., the name of the food if your child ate something bad) 
  • Grab something warm if your child is outside 

In emergency situations, your child is dependent on you to help them through it all — which is why the above-mentioned tips are incredibly important. 

In the future, hopefully, none of your children will experience major illnesses or injuries. However, if they do, you now know what steps to take and can refer back to this guide at any time.