TELEPHONE TIPS

1. Staff nurses are available for emergency and routine health care phone calls from 83:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday. If you leave a message for us to call you back, it is very difficult for us to reach you if an answering machine picks up the return call or if you leave a pager number.

2. The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner has a special call-in time at the Medical Center office from 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. weekdays for infant and child care consultation. She is also available for breast-feeding consultation. If you are unable to call the nurse practitioner during this time, requests for a return call can be left on her phone’s voice mail, and will be returned before 5:30 p.m. of that day.

3. Evening and weekend hours are reserved for emergency health care phone calls only. An emergency is:

a) a serious accident

b) severe breathing difficulties

c) convulsions

d) sharp abdominal pain lasting more than 2 hours

e) black or bloody bowel movements

f) prolonged vomiting or diarrhea

g) a fever that does not decrease with fever control measures
(see fever section)

h) a fever with infant under 3 months of age (see fever section)

i) dehydration (dry mouth, no tears, sunken soft spot, decreased urination)

4. Please have your child’s temperature (when appropriate), a pen and paper, and the number of your pharmacy before you call this office if your child is ill.

5. Please keep your phone lines open while waiting for a routine call.

6. If you need medical assistance for health care emergencies after office hours, call the office telephone number and you will hear a recorded message giving you the number of the answering service. The answering service will take your name, your baby’s name and age, and the number where you can be reached within the next hour. The nurse or doctor on call will check with the answering service every hour for any messages until 9:30 p.m. After 9:30 p.m. the answering service will page the doctor on call for emergencies. If you have an emergency, notify the answering service so that your call can be returned immediately.

If you leave a request with the answering service, please be available when your call is returned and turn off your answering machine. Since the person on call is calling from their personal phone, they may use a (Caller I.D.) block. If you do not accept phone calls that have "Caller I.D." blocking, we will not be able to return your call.

7. If your child has any special medical problems, or is on any medications, please inform the doctor or nurse on call when discussing your child’s problem.

8. If you need to take your child to the Emergency Room, please try to call the Pediatrician on call first, unless it is a life-threatening emergency.

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