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What to do when you can’t get through to pediatrician

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By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 5:25 PM Tuesday, October 27, 2009

DAYTON — Your kid is feverish and feeling crummy but you can’t get through to your pediatrician to make an appointment or ask advice.

It’s a scene being repeated around the Dayton region as medical offices are inundated with calls from worried moms and dads.

“There is definitely a high level of anxiety in the community but in the overwhelming majority of cases the children can be kept at home and be treated like any other winter flu,” said David Roer, a pediatrician at Pediatric Associates, a 12-physician groups with three area offices. Roer said he and his colleagues are now into the fifth week of seeing viral-like illness and influenza, and have extended office hours as a result.

Concerned parents whose children are truly ill, he added, should definitely keep calling. Roer said many of the current calls, however, are relate to the availability of the H1N1 vaccine and that getting that vaccine is not an immediate emergency.

Bill Wharton, spokesperson for Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County, said the key issue is whether or not your child’s flu symptoms are normal or out of the ordinary.

“We’re trying not to overwhelm the medical system – whether that be the hospitals or the pediatrician offices by sending kids that can be taken care of at home to those offices.”

Ordinary symptoms may include fever, sore throat, abdominal achiness, some vomiting.

“These children can be treated at home: just give them plenty of rest, feed them well, give them plenty of liquids so they don’t become dehydrated,” said Wharton. A child who is dehydrated may have a decrease in tears, saliva, urine, and may not be drinking.

Roer said valid reasons to make an appointment, in addition to dehydration, include difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and lethargy.

“When you have a high fever your child will appear lethargic,” he explained, “but if you give them Tylenol or Motrin to lower their temperature and the child is less lethargic and becomes more alert, that’s not as concerning.”

Roer said it is always best to be seen by your child’s own doctor.

“You’ll sit in a hospital waiting room for hours and hours, and your physician knows your child’s history and any other complications,” he said.

Betsy Woods, public relations manager for Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, said the hospital is also advising concerned parents to contact their pediatrician or family doctor.

“We’re seeing a 60 percent increase in patients in the emergency room and our two urgent care centers, and most of these kids coming in could be treated at home,” she said. “I completely understand that parents are nervous, but they should try to treat symptoms at home unless their child has an underlying condition such as asthma, diabetes or heart problems. Then, I would definitely watch your child closely and call the doctor or come into the hospital if there are concerns.

Phone lines at a doc’s office are busiest, Roer said, for the first two hours after the office opens, so parents are better off trying later in the day.

Wharton said a child who is coughing up heavy mucus or blood or has extremities that are turning bluish, should definitely be seen.

“If they need medical attention and can’t get into their physician’s office, you should go to the emergency room,” he advised.

Roer said he always tells parents to listen to their gut instincts.

“If you think it’s an emergency and you just know in your heart something’s not right, have your child seen.”

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It will be best to get your children's H1N1 vaccine at the schools because at a Pediatric office we do have very limited supply and cannot supply every patient that comes to the office.

Peds worker
7:54 PM, 10/28/2009

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And please be nice to the staff at your peditrician's office!! It is not their fault that everyone is calling in and the lines are busy and they have no flu vaccine!! Do you think being rude will help any more???

be nice
6:26 PM, 10/28/2009

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