In case of :
When I started looking
around online I noticed that there isn’t clear information on this topic.
Our daughter has a Urea
Cycle Disorder, which is a very serious medical condition. Her body cannot
process proteins and when her body has too much protein her ammonia levels can
become elevated which can cause brain swelling and put her in a coma. As
everyone knows brain death can happen in a matter of minutes, even seconds so
every moment counts in an emergency.
 |
| Jasmine admitted to the hospital |
Not every child has a
serious medical condition, but a lot of children have allergies and minor
medical conditions that need to be known in case of an emergency. Please
consider having an emergency letter ready in case your babysitter or family
member or friend has to rush your child to the ER. Usually we keep a list of
important numbers to call in case of an emergency, but does your babysitter or
grandmother know the exact name of your child’s issues? Keep a list of all of
the medications your child takes regularly because as you know they ask in an
emergency. If you have an elderly relative please make sure this is done for
each and every one with their diagnoses and medications, but also do this for
yourself. You never know what could happen.
Have you ever been in a
situation where a friend became sick and you needed to know their possible
conditions or medications they take? Consider keeping an emergency letter on
hand for every member of the house with an attached list of medications you or
they regularly take and dosage information. Imagine something happened to you, would
your family members know all of this critical information? If there was a quick
letter and list to grab it could make a life saving difference.
 |
| Jasmine in the ER |
Our daughter’s letter:
Her letter was prepared by
her physician’s team and has the letterhead of the hospital we are seen at. It
has the direct phone numbers for the clinic and on-call line. The letter begins
with the nature of her condition and what she is at risk for. The letter is
very direct about the seriousness of her illness. It has a list of symptoms and
what to do if she needs immediate action. Our letter has the IV solution and
list of initial labs to be taken should any emergency room be unsure.
When our daughter was first
diagnosed they gave us this letter and we took it immediately to Staples to get
copies and to get the copies laminated. (HINT HINT: don't be lazy, get it laminated!!!) My husband and I both have copies of
this letter on our cell phones saved with a “favorites” label to make it easy
to get to.
Her letter is part of our
medical binder that we take to her appointments and record all of her
hospitalizations as well as her test results. As you can imagine, if this is a
frequent process for you or a loved one, it comes in handy so one person
doesn’t have to be responsible for all of this information.
