After Hours Emergency | Strashunpediatrics

EMERGENCIES AFTER HOURS

If your child has a life threatening emergency please go to the nearest emergency room or call 911.

Poison Control: 314-772-5200 or 1-800-222-1222

What should you do when your child is sick but our office is closed? For concerns or questions that can't wait until normal business hours, help is just a phone call away: you can call our After Hours Exchange at 314-362-5820. This number should only be used for urgent questions or health concerns.

For routine care questions, prescription refills, and all non-urgent questions, please call our office during regular business hours.

We subscribe to St. Louis Children's Hospital's After Hours service, an extension of our practice that helps us care for your child when our office is closed. They are staffed by pediatric registered nurses who each have, on average, more than 10 years of experience in pediatrics. The nurse will assess your child's symptoms and advise you on what steps you can take to help him or her. The nurses can usually resolve most problems during the initial call, however a physician is always on call if necessary.

Our practice is kept well-informed about the calls our patients make to the After Hours service. By the next morning we receive a faxed report detailing the reason for your call and the advice given by the nurse.

Here are some examples of when you should contact our After Hours Service:

Anytime your child has difficulty breathing or is wheezing; any asthma episode for which you need help

Any possible head injury

Injuries to limbs; animal bites; a wound that may need stitches

Any fever in an infant under 3 months

Fever of 105F or greater in children over 3 months, even if there are no other symptoms

Any fever with other symptoms like stiff neck, rash, headache

Repeated vomiting and/or diarrhea, especially if your child is under 2 years of age, or if your child of any age shows symptoms of dehydration (no urination or wet diaper in 8 hours or more, and/or refusing to drink

Anytime you are very worried about your child's symptoms

For many common symptoms you can make your child comfortable at home and follow up with us during office hours if they persist or worsen.

If you're not sure whether or not you should call us after hours, a lot of helpful information can be found on the Children's Hospital website Health Resources Symptom Checker. Just select the symptom your child is experiencing.