When and how to send kids to the emergency room
- November 15, 2022
- The REACH Institute
- Assessment & screening, Depression, Suicide
“The first thing I would say to any clinician is that it’s never wrong to send a child to the emergency room,” said Amy Dryer, MD, pediatrician and REACH faculty member.
Having spent 10 years in a hospital emergency department, Dr. Dryer is intimately familiar with the criteria ER physicians use to decide to admit psychiatric patients: a medical condition, suicidal ideation with a lethal plan, homicidal ideation, or active psychosis.
However, she emphasized that your decision to refer to the ER doesn’t hinge on whether the patient is likely to be admitted. “If what they’re telling you makes you uncomfortable,” she said, “go ahead and refer them.”
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“This course has made me more comfortable in dealing with my patients with mental illness As the PCP, I would normally refer to psychiatry or psychology, but I would now feel more capable to handle the more straightforward cases.”