Emergency Medicine

The Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore is one of the busiest emergency departments in the tri-state area. We treat 150-200 patients ranging from infants to adolescents everyday and approximately 60,000 each year. We also have the largest group of pediatric emergency medicine physicians and nurses in the tri-state area exclusively dedicated to providing safe and immediate services to these young ill and injured patients.

Children come to our emergency department with a wide variety of complaints, spanning minor lacerations to critical needs for resuscitation. Because we have a sizable staff, vast resources, and state-of-the-art technology, many parents bring their children from West Chester, Manhattan, New Jersey, and Connecticut, as well as the local community. This is especially the case for specific sub-specialty cases that many other area hospitals do not address, such as: hematological problems, sickle cell, oncologic issues, and neuro-surgical difficulties.

The real highlight of the Pediatric Emergency Department at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore is our incredible team of physicians and experts, who possess the comfort and familiarity of dealing with children, and are trained in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. It's important to recognize that children are not just small adults, as they differ in their disease processes, anatomically, physiologically, and most importantly, psychologically. They also react to pain quite differently than adults, and having a team who understands these differences is crucial to proper care, especially in a stressful situation, such as a visit to the emergency department.

What to expect of the unexpected trip to the Emergency Room

The first step to admitting an infant, child, or adolescent to the Pediatric Emergency Department is triage, where a highly skilled nurse evaluates patients, reviews any history of prior visits, collects important contact information, and assesses the severity of the illness or problem so each patient is seen in a timely fashion. If a case such as a small laceration is minor, the patient is brought to the Fast Track area, where a team of pediatric nurses and doctors will quickly tend to the issue, allowing patients to be in and out of the emergency room without long waiting periods.

Children who have trouble breathing or experience serious trauma are seen by a specialized team that assembles to address their immediate care. These experts include: pediatric emergency medicine physicians and nurses, child life specialists, respiratory therapists, sub-specialty physicians, and some residents and fellows, as this is also an academic medical center.

To make the experience more pleasant, each patient room is equipped with a television, is brightly decorated, and perpetuates the space theme throughout the hospital with a ceiling that sparkles with stars, so children feel as calm and comfortable as possible. Underscoring our focus on pain management and family-centered care, our child life specialists also assist with alleviating patients' stress through the use of art and music therapy and distraction techniques.

What to bring with you

Parents are encouraged to bring the following items to ensure efficiency and accuracy when coming to the Emergency Room:

• Your child's immunization history
• Your child's primary physician's phone number
• Information about any chronic illness or condition your child may have
• X-rays or lab test results from other hospitals or clinics relating to the child's current illness (if available)

State-of-the-art technology

Unlike adults, children vary tremendously both in terms of their size and weight. At The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, we have the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic equipment to manage infants as small as 6 pounds to adolescents of 21 years of age — and any severity of illness. All rooms contain state-of-the-art resuscitation technology and a non-invasive digital computer that monitors the patient's heart and respiratory system.

If a patient requires lab tests or X-rays, we do it within the immediate vicinity of the ER to minimize any waiting time. Unlike many other emergency departments, we also have the capabilities to perform complex procedures such as draining an abscess on premise.

Additionally, our Patient Tracking system permits all emergency department physicians and nurses to access information such as: which bed each patient currently occupies, who the attending nurse and physician are, and if any laboratory results are pending, so that the entire process is streamlined. We also employ Physician Order Entry, which enables doctors to enter prescriptions directly into the computer to cross-checks the patients' medical records with the medication in order to ensure no dangers or potential allergic reactions will arise. It also is programmed to recognize whether or not the order is a duplicate, further enhancing its ability to minimize any possible human error.

In essence, the Pediatric Emergency Department at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore is a safety net. Families and children know there is always someone available to see them, even when they are having difficulties contacting their regular primary care physician or navigating through a complicated health care system. We are opened 24/7 and all children are seen as quickly as possible by our dedicated pediatric emergency medical staff.

Mary Anne Gallagher, RN, C MA