After Hours Care

FOR TRUE EMERGENCIES, PLEASE CALL 911 - You can notify us after-the-fact, but please do not delay emergency care to call us.

FOR POISONINGS/INGESTIONS, PLEASE CALL 1-800-POISON-1 - Again, notify us after-the-fact so we can help you in follow-up, but please call Poison Control FIRST.

During normal business hours we have a team of a nurse and medical assistants who are dedicated to your phone calls. Please use this service for routine questions, behavioral concerns, or anything that you simply would like to ask. We realize, however, that children do get sick when the office is closed, so we have thoughtfully chosen services to help you care for your children when they are acutely ill. You do not need to call any special number to reach our after-hour services. Please call our normal office number and follow the prompts and you will be automatically routed to the after-hour service.

When do I call?
It is most important to answer this question for yourself. What might seem minor to a pediatrician can feel very much like an emergency to a parent. We certainly understand this. If you are very concerned about your child, or will not be able to rest comfortably without getting some additional advice, we expect you to call. Here are some guidelines that might help you decide if you need to call after-hours or if you can wait until morning.

Please call if:

• You feel uncomfortable with your child's condition and do not feel it can wait until the next day
• Your infant (< 3months of age) has a fever greater than 100.4 (rectally). This is considered a life-threatening emergency.
• There has been a serious accident or emergency
• Severe breathing difficulties (working hard to breathe, severe chest pain, persistent wheezing, pale skin)
• Sharp abdominal pain lasting more than 2 hrs
• Bleeding that you cannot stop
• Vomiting that seems persistent or if there are signs of dehydration (decreased urine output, listlessness, intolerance to sips of clear fluid after a short period of tummy rest, approximately 2-4 hrs)

During the regular week, calls are routed to MedLink until 10 pm. MedLink then pages the physician on call and we will call you back promptly. We do not share call with any other practice, so you should know that you will always speak to one of our physicians. After 10 pm, calls are routed to the Seton Call Center , where a Registered Nurse will take your call. These nurses use the same triage system that we do, and they will work through the problem with you. If the problem is too difficult for the nurse to handle, the physician on call will be paged. On the weekends, physicians take calls directly from MedLink from 8 am to 10 pm and the Seton Call Center takes over at 10 pm.

If you are concerned that your child may need to access emergency care, we would like you to call us so we can assist you in finding the most appropriate Emergency Department or Urgent Care Center for your child. For any young infants, or a child that we suspect may need to be admitted to the hospital, we will definitely recommend you take your child to the Dell Children's Medical Center . For other more minor concerns, we can suggest the most appropriate site for you.

Calls made after normal business hours are subject to a $15 fee.