The following is not an unusual situation: The paramedics pull up on the scene of an injury. They assess the patient, and let’s say the patient is a seven year-old girl with a broken leg. Mom: “Can you take her to Regional…
Take it from me, the father of three teenagers: teenagers are trouble. They whine and grump when asked to do the dishes, fold clothes, or clean up. They beg for fast food day and night. The good manners they practiced just a…
My wife tells the story of how two of her nephews screamed non-stop for their whole first year of life. Her sister and her husband were getting so crazy that she offered to watch the kids for a weekend so they could get a break…
It is a busy time of year for us in the ER business. Besides the usual injuries and illnesses, people fill the ERs in the evenings with worries that are NOT emergencies. The waiting rooms are clogged with milling crowds, often…
People used to have difficulty naming their fears about when their child hit their head. Now their fear has a name- Natasha Richardson. Everyone has heard a story like the famous actress's. A person hit their head, looked well…
Many people, when they tell me their kid is getting sick with a cold, start with "he was outside yesterday without a coat or shoes, and now look at him!", as if cold air and exposure gave him the illness. Many people believe that…
3:30 am: Mom brings the three-year old into the ER. He awoke screaming with ear pain, crying about "buzzing." I look in his ear with the otoscope and see a tan-colored insect, waving its floppy wings against the poor boy's…
Many parents fear that high fever will hurt their children. A common visit to my Emergency Department often starts with "My baby had a fever of 103, so I rushed right in." Many times I look the toddler over and he is jumping up…
