Emergency Medicine

If you are unsure about whether your child’s injury or sudden illness needs emergency care, treat it as an emergency. Call 911 immediately.

Why Choose All Children’s Pediatric Emergency Center?

Children's health emergencies require special expertise and special treatment. All Children's Hospital has built an Emergency Center around the specific needs of children in emergency medical situations. Some of the distinct advantages of the All Children's Emergency Center are:

• The EC Attending staff consists of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physicians and General Pediatricians.
  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine physicians have three additional years of pediatric training beyond their training in emergency medicine.
  • There is at least one Board Certified Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician in the EC at all times, sometimes as many as three.
  • In addition to having the skills to make kids feels more secure and at ease in emergency situations, Pediatric Emergency Physicians' additional training means faster diagnosis and treatment.
  • All Children's Hospital also uses ONLY Pediatrics Residents - doctors who are training to be pediatricians, rather than general practice residents.
• The EC Nursing staff is specially trained in pediatric emergency nursing.
• The Emergency Center is directly adjacent to the Pediatric Radiology Department. The Radiology department is staffed 24 hours, and films are read by Pediatric Radiologists. Our Radiology department is part of the Image Gently campaign; a widespread effort by radiologists to reduce radiation exposure in children’s in many different ways.
• The Emergency Center has a child life specialist who helps make the Emergency Center experience less threatening and stressful for patients and families. Child life specialists use distraction and play to help children cope better with the hospital experience.

The All Children's Hospital Emergency Center treats over 45,000 infants, children, and teenagers a year, and is part of a joint trauma program with Bayfront Medical center. The Emergency Center at All Children's hospital is able to treat all emergency conditions.

When do I need an Emergency Center?

Emergency Centers can treat minor conditions but also deal with more serious injuries and illnesses. The All Children's Hospital Emergency Center is open 24 hours a day. Commonly treated emergency conditions include:

• Severe Asthma
• Concussions
• Several Abdominal Pain
• Seizures
• Severe cuts with excessive bleeding
• Fevers in children under 8 weeks old
• Broken bones
• Sports injuries

Not sick enough for the Emergency Center?

Many of the pediatric specialists on our campus offer urgent visits daily. If you need to see a pediatric specialist at All Children’s Hospital immediately, please call your primary care physician and ask them to call the specialist for an urgent appointment.

If you do not have a primary care physician, please contact the All Children’s Hospital Physician Referral Service and they will be able to help you find a pediatrician.

Bringing Patients to the Emergency Center

Information for Parents

The All Children's Hospital Emergency Center sees pediatric patients in person at any time of the day without appointments.  The staff in the Emergency Center cannot give advice over the phone. Any parent whose child has received treatment in the Emergency Center should feel free to return if they have concerns relating to an illness or injury that was treated in the Emergency Center. Many conditions change over time, and we are always happy to repeat an evaluation or perform further testing when events do not progress as expected. 

Referral Information for Primary Care Physicians

All Children's Hospital Emergency Center is happy to take referrals from pediatricians, family physicians and any other physicians in their offices or clinics for patients who need further evaluation and treatment. To transfer a patient to All Children's Hospital, please contact the All Children's Hospital Patient Transfer Center.

Referral Information for Emergency Physicians

All Children's Hospital Emergency Center will accept any patient of an appropriate age from any hospitals. To transfer a patient to All Children's Hospital, please contact the All Children's Hospital Patient Transfer Center.