Emergencies
For a life threatening illness or injury call 911 or take your child to the
nearest emergency room. If you are not sure whether a visit to the emergency
room is appropriate, please call our office to discuss the situation.
We will help you decide whether a visit to the emergency room is necessary.
However, if you have any doubt about the severity of the situation or if for some reason you are
unable to reach one of our physicians, we encourage you to go directly to the emergency room at
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital at Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus or if you are out of town,
go to the emergency room nearest you.
Spectrum Health
Helen DeVos Children's Hospital
100 Michigan St. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
(616) 391-9000
Parents often have a difficult time determining when their child's symptoms should be
considered an emergency. Some parents may worry that they are calling too soon and
other parents may dismiss emergency symptoms as "not serious." Below are conditions
we feel require immediate treatment. You should call at once if your child experiences
any of these symptoms.
The information on this web site is intended to inform and educate and is not a replacement
for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a health care professional.
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Abdominal Tenderness: Your child's tummy
should be soft even when she has a stomachache. Try pressing on your child's
tummy while she is distracted (such as when sitting on your lap while reading a story).
You should be able to press in about an inch in all parts of the tummy without
resistance or screaming. The tummy should not be bloated or hard.
Bluish Lips: Blue color of the lips and mouth (cyanosis)
can indicate your child is not getting enough oxygen.
Breathing Difficulty: This is not the same
as the noisy breathing caused by a stuffy nose. Watch and listen to your child breathe
after you have cleaned out her nose and when she is not coughing. Call if your child
has any of the following:
- Obvious breathing difficulty
- Rapid breathing (more than 50 breaths per minute in a child under
6 months, more than 40 breaths per minute from 6 months to 4 years
or more than 30 breaths per minute if older than 4 years)
- Bluish lips
- Moaning or grunting with each breath
- Pulling or sucking in between the ribs or at the bottom of the neck (retractions)
Bulging Soft Spot: If your infant's soft spot
(fontanel) is tense and bulging out it may mean the brain is under pressure. Since the
fontanel normally bulges when the baby is crying, check it when your baby is quiet and
in an upright position. It is normal to see the soft spot pulsate at times.
Dehydration: Dehydration means that your
child's body fluids are low and usually follows vomiting or diarrhea. Signs of
dehydration include:
- No urine or wet diaper in eight hours
- Sticky dry tongue
- Sunken in soft spot
- Sunken eyes
- No tears when crying (infants less than 2 months do not normally tear)
Drooling: The sudden onset of drooling in a
non-teething child, especially if it occurs with difficulty swallowing, can mean a
serious infection of the tonsils, throat, or windpipe.
Infant Fever: Call immediately if your infant is
less than three months old and has a rectal temperature of 100.5 or higher.
Fever is more concerning in infants because at this age they are hard to evaluate.
They may not smile or coo yet, and they often do not have regular sleeping and eating
habits. In infants, a rectal temperature less than 97 may also be serious.
Lethargy (extreme): Tiredness and increased sleeping
during an illness is normal. However, if your child stares into space, won't smile,
can't play, is too weak to cry, is floppy, or hard to awaken you should call us. Lethargy
does not mean the punkiness that some children experience when not feeling well.
Neck Injury: Any significant neck injury should be
reported, even if your child seems fine.
Neck Stiffness: A stiff neck can be a sign of
meningitis, especially if it is associated with a fever. Ask your child to touch his chin
to his chest.
Newborn Illness: If your baby is less than six weeks old,
you should call anytime they seem sick.
Pain (severe): Call if your child cries when you touch or
move him. A child with severe pain may not want to be held. Constant screaming may also point
to severe pain.
Poisoning: If your child ingests (eats) anything you
feel may be poisonous, please call poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.
Purple Spots: Purple spots on the skin can be a sign
of serious bloodstream infection, with the exception of explainable bruises.
Testicular Pain: Sudden onset of severe pain in the groin
or testicle can be from twisting (torsion) of the testicle. This requires surgery within eight hours
to save the testicle.
Walking Difficulty: If your child has learned to walk and
then stops walking it may indicate a serious injury or problem with balance. A child who walks
bent over, holding his belly may have a serious abdominal problem, such as appendicitis.
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