We see a lot of depressed children and teenagers in the Emergency Department. Often it is because the child is suicidal. Either he or she has has attempted to kill himself, or has stated that he wants to. Depression often comes…
My mom loved to tell this story about school kids on a field trip. She ran our church's tutoring program for inner-city kids, providing fun and enrichment where their schools could not. She once brought the crew to a planetarium…
My wife grew up here in Lafayette, and has more than one story about teenage friends and acquaintances dying in boating accidents. With teenagers, of course there was alcohol involved. As a Pediatric Emergency Medicine doctor, I…
When I was in high school, summers meant lots of exercise in the heat. I would go for runs with sweat literally pouring off my arms. Then came summer soccer practice- push ups and calisthenics, sprints and indian runs with grass…
Kids and teens will sometimes have chest pain. It happens more often than you think. We see at least 4-5 kids per week in the Emergency Department for complaints of chest pain. When it happens, parents sometimes freak out. Is…
When we bring a new baby home, we want to do everything to make our new family member comfortable. We got a sheepskin as a shower gift- put it under baby! Cover her with an extra blanket- don't want her to get chilly. Put some…
Sometimes we emergency doctors are called upon to temporarily be dentists. Teeth get knocked out in injuries, and we have to tend to the tooth as well as the other, more doctory injuries. It makes us a little uncomfortable-…
I have had several personal fainting episodes in my life, some quite silly. For example, there was the time in high school biology class: I was to get a drop of blood from my fingertip to look at blood cells under the…
A common reason for parents to bring their kids to the ED is belly pain. Doctor’s offices and “quick care” urgent care clinics also send us a lot of kids with belly pain. Everyone has the same basic concern- is it appendicitis…
Every day several families bring their kids in to the Emergency Department with non-emergencies- runny noses, rashes, diarrhea. Then many times the mom, perhaps sensing our impatience with the inappropriateness of that visit,…
It happens at least once per week that a family brings their child in with a frustrating problem. The complaints are vague, like mild fever off and on for weeks or months, or headaches or belly pain, or odd rashes. The problem…
Occasionally I am surprised by some parent’s beliefs. There are a lot of “old wive’s tales” out there which I am used to: fever curdles milk in baby’s stomachs, fever will cook baby’s brain, blowing cigarette smoke in ears is…
