Aug 5, 09 | Posted by: Bayshore Pediatrics

After hours Calls

One of the things we take great pride in at Bayshore Pediatrics is our ability to provide after hour phone calls.  We do not have nurses taking these calls, but each one of the four physicians share this responsibility.  Just by using the paging system, you are able to reach one of our physicians within a short period of time.  As we prepare for the winter season, we want to share with you the most effective way to use this.

After hour calls are available for those emergencies that cannot wait until the morning.  Many people think that the physician on call is in the office and has access to the records.  This actually isn’t the case.  Our on call physicians are home with their families doing the things everyone else does at night- helping with homework, taking care of a sick child, attending a child’s sporting event, or relaxing after a hard day of work.  They also don’t have access to your child’s record and can’t see all of the previous conversations you might have had with another physician.  While our physicians know many of the children in the entire practice, they may not know all of the details.  When you call it is important to have the following information ready to help provide all needed details.

1.  age of child and current weight

2. any medications they take- chronically or for this illness

3.  any allergies to drugs

4.  nature of problem, including length of illness/injury, different things that have been tried to alleviate the problem, any studies already done.

5.  pharmacy number- while our physicians know a few numbers they do not have the majority memorized and may not be in a place where they have access to a phone book.

So we can provide the best and most timely care for urgent phone calls, please think about the urgency of the call.  We most definitely want to know about acute injuries with significant swelling or unable to use an extremity appropriately, any loss of consciousness, significant bleeding or cut that looks open, any significant change in an ongoing illness such as increased fussiness, not tolerating any liquids, unable to stop vomiting, not responding to you, unable to wake up, temperature of 100.5 or higher in an infant less than 3 months, difficulty breathing.  Always look at the child and if you think “I am worried and I cannot wait until the morning” you must call. 

There are a few phone calls that are better handled in the morning and with your primary physician if they are in.  These include pink eye, diaper rash that does not appear unusual or spreading to other places, constipation, behavior issues or ongoing medical problems without a significant change.  If your child is sleeping well, it is probably better to call in the morning.

If you do call the on call doctor, you should know that the response time for a return call is at the most a half an hour.  If you don’t receive a call in the time, you should call the answering service again and ask to have the doctor repaged.  There are times (rare but it does happen) that pages don’t go through the first time.  We have a back up system in case this occurs so if you do call the on call doctor, you can expect a call back.

We are hopeful that this is helpful in knowing when to call the on call doctor and what details are needed to better answer your questions.

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