Category: Popular on kids ER Doc

The Bad News About Button Batteries

With the increase in sales of smaller consumer electronics, there has been a parallel increase in the sale and use of button batteries. These batteries are small and flat and are found in hearing aids, remotes, and electronic games. They are smooth and shiny and very appealing to eat or put up your nose –…

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Cool Life Saving Devices and Childhood Choking

My first year out of fellowship I was working in the emergency department one afternoon. It was actually fairly quiet – a rare occurrence on a winter day. Suddenly a mother rushed in with her one year old son who was alert, but his cry sounded hoarse. That afternoon, his older sibling thought it would…

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Helping Our Children in Difficult Times

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How to Handle News Media Exposure with Kids

When I was growing up in the 70s and early 80s, my parents would regularly turn on the evening news, and we would watch the news together as a family.  The world was certainly not perfect or peaceful at that time, but somehow the level of tragedy and destruction was not even close to what…

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The Flu Vaccine for Kids — Yes or No?

Each fall we read reports that this will be a really bad flu season. Except that this year may actually be a bad flu season. The CDC often bases flu season predictions on the preceding flu season in the Southern Hemisphere. Not that there is any absolute guarantee, but Australia has experienced one of its…

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Hurricanes and Floods – A Disaster Readiness Guide (Modified from the American Academy of Pediatrics)

This year has been a particularly bad year for hurricanes. We are still recovering from Harvey and are now about to be hit by Hurricane Irma. Natural disasters are frightening and overwhelming for everyone, but having an action plan can make a critical difference in outcome. First, every family should have identification cards for each…

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Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones – Casts, Splints and Ace Wraps

If your child has had a broken bone, a bad sprain or a mild sprain, your physician might use a cast, a splint or an ace wrap. Each of these offers different amounts of support and immobilization to allow the bone or joint to heal. Casts and splints can be made of plaster or fiberglass…

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Overuse Injuries in Children’s Sports – Little Leaguer’s Elbow and Shoulder

Overuse injuries are “chronic injuries related to repetitive stress on the musculoskeletal system without sufficient recovery time”. (1) Symptoms associated with overuse injuries develop slowly and are initially associated with playing sports. If they are left untreated, they can even occur during rest as the injury worsens. Multiple factors contribute to overuse injuries in children’s…

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Growth Plate Injuries and Kids

Every pediatrician knows the saying “kids are not little adults” and this applies to broken bones as well. The good news is that when kids get fractures they tend to heal faster than adults. The bad news is that a fracture in the wrong place can interfere with proper growth. This is particularly true for…

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Drowning in Misinformation – Dispelling Common Myths about Children and Drowning Terminology

This June, a four year old boy old died tragically in Texas several days after swimming in a dike. He felt fine that day but started vomiting and having diarrhea the following day. A few days later, his father found him unresponsive, called 911 and he was rushed to the emergency department but did not…

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