Sick Toddler: Call Pediatrician or 911?

Okay, here's a question from the mother of a very sick toddler who asks, "When should I call my pediatrician or 911? What symptoms are considered serious or life threatening in a toddler?"

Okay. Well, she should feel free to call her pediatrician any time she is really worried. Again, I am going back to the gut, your gut tells you your child is sick, you know better than anyone else in the world. So, she should never hesitate to call the pediatrician.

But in general, the signs and symptoms to call a pediatrician is, if your child has had a fever depending on the age of the child, how long that child's had a fever, cough, runny nose, trouble breathing, vomiting or looking dehydrated or not drinking enough, not peeing enough. Not peeing enough is a good indicator of whether the child is drinking enough or not. And of course, vomiting or abdominal pain, those are all reasons to get some advice.

To call 911 probably is a little bit sicker -- you want a child that's probably a little bit sicker than that, but again if you are worried about it, you should always trust your gut. My guidelines for that is basically if the child is having trouble breathing or stopped breathing, the color looks off, some sort of trauma has happened. Obviously, a car accident or he has fallen; something has fallen on him those are all reasons to call 911.

I think maybe though on the first impulse, I remember my daughter slipped by a pool and bumped her head. The first thing we did was throw her in the car and rush to the emergency room. Is there -- in that type of situation, should you call an ambulance to get there first or do you follow that instinct to throw the child in the car and go to the emergency room. I mean --?

That's a great question, I would say that you know. If your child has had any symptoms from a head injury, you probably should call 911.

By symptoms I mean, you know the child has lost consciousness, is acting drowsy, not acting like herself, those are probably reasons that you want – you don't want to put the child in the car, because you don't know how far it is, you don't if you are going to get stuck in traffic.

Right. A parent doesn't know how to handle it like an EMT would.

Exactly.