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Many of these ED visits could be safely managed at home or in the pediatrician’s office. Likewise, there are also steps we can take now to help mitigate some of the expected rise in ED volumes over the coming months.
One thing we can do is to ramp up communication efforts with parents early. Some of these activities include engaging in flu recall activities to start conversations with parents about the importance of getting their children’s flu vaccines.
Here are several resources to help educate parents about common respiratory illnesses including flu, COVID-19 and RSV.
These include:
Please also refer to these guidelines and tips for providers:
*This link has been updated from previous communications*
When children do get a fever, the following tool provides guidance for parents on the most frequently asked topics including symptoms to watch for, how parents can help their child, and when to call a doctor. Check out the Fever Patient Information Sheet.
Parent education is also a key component to help alleviate some of the burden placed on both parents and healthcare systems caused by potentially avoidable ED visits for patients with fever. Uniform messaging such as that included in the Fever Patient Information Sheet should be provided to parents during in-office visits as well as posted onto your practice website for easy access when families return home.
As a network, all of our combined efforts matter in our mission to help keep the children and families in our communities healthy and safe. Together, we can work toward achieving positive outcomes as we head into the coming months.
If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@tccn-choa.org.
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