Your Emergency Room Bag, 10 essentials for a germ free visit!
While away on a family vacation, we ended up in the emergency room and I decided that we needed an emergency room bag.
Today’s post is a fun parent/family activity that will remind us how we can be prepared for an ER visit. We can all benefit from helpful information to insure our health and safety. Designing and creating an Emergency Bag is a fun relaxing way to spend time together while discussing health related topics.
We all know how a pregnant woman has her hospital bag ready when her big day arrives unexpectedly? Let’s make sure we are ready with our bag too.
The early childhood center I previously worked for had such a bag for each classroom. The Emergency Bag was brought on field trips and visits to the playground. A family Emergency Bag will help your family be ready too. I will walk you through and explain why I include each item.
Items #1 & 2-bring sanitizing wipes & hand sanitizer. I observed one person carrying a bucket at one point, I assumed in case he needed to vomit, yuck! There are lots of germs lurking around the ER waiting room. I started to wonder how often the tables and chairs were wiped down. In the 4 hours we were there I saw no cleaning going on. A little preparation goes a long way, so bring these items just in case the hospital hand sanitizer dispenser is empty. Wipe down the seat and arms of your chair to insure your area is clean.
Item #3-zip lock bag with a few masks just in case you are near someone coughing, sneezing, blowing their nose or vomiting. While I did notice masks on the wall in a dispenser, you can assume they were for the workers, but what about us well folks waiting in the ER. Prevention goes a long way.
Items #4 & 5-bottled water and healthy snacks. Include a couple bottles of water to keep everyone hydrated; soda from a machine is not as quenching as water. Snacks like prepackaged health bars and almonds are satisfying during a long wait and can be stored in your bag and changed periodically.
Item #6-important information sheets or small notebook. I would include: important ph #’s like your family physician, work and family #’s, you know the ones that are really important. Include a copy-of your Insurance card- both sides, because each includes lots of phone numbers. Keep a health history/summary and allergies for each family member in your bag. You ask in this day and age why bring anything in a hard copy? How many of you have all your important numbers and health histories memorized? And for those of you who store your info on your smart phones, what if your cell phone goes dead or you have no reception?
Item #7-quiet activities for the you and the kids (coloring books, crayons, small books, a mini-etch-a-sketch, small hand held games)
Item #8-change & money (for the snack machines and cafeteria)
Item #9-simple first aid kit (band aids, surgical tape, 2×2’s tissues, surgical glove etc.) these can be placed in a small Ziploc bag.
Item #10**Item Reminder, your Cell phone and charge cord: I always carry my charge cord with me, I think most people do, just a reminder in case your phone goes dead.
While doing some research for this post I came across lots of interesting info like germ zapping robots in hospitals and the creepy truth about the different antibiotic resistant bacteria around us, especially where really sick people hang out. One thing is for sure; if you have a life threatening health issue by all means go to the emergency room where they are equipped to treat you.
If you are in need of medical care for minor situations, it might be better to try your local urgent care facility. Call 911 and they will direct you.
Check out KidsDoc symptom checkers app by healthychildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is also available in Spanish. This app has loads of really helpful information, from everyday childhood illnesses with symptom descriptions and easy to follow first aid for injuries. Its easy to search the app by body part, by alphabetical index or by keyword search.
Fun activity for your family or parent group
Make an Emergency Room Bag
Items you will need:
1. Pre-made washable cloth bags from your favorite craft store.
2. Cloth paints or permanent markers
3. Ziploc bags
All your bag content:
1. Hand sanitizing wipes.
2. Hand sanitizer
3. Face masks
4. Bottled water
5. Healthy snacks
6. Important Information sheets, copy of both sides of Insurance card.
7. Quiet activities
8. Change & money
9. Small First Aid Kit
a. Band aids
b. 2×2’s
c. Surgical tape
d. Tissues
e. Surgical gloves
10. Cell phone and charge cord
Decorate your bags with cloth paints or markers, make it fun and display your healthy life style. I feel using a cloth bag is a good choice so it can be washed after your ER visit. Let’s hope you won’t ever need it, but, it probably is inevitable that one day you will pay a visit to the ER.
It would really be fun if you would take a picture of your bags and send them to TheSingingNurse@gmail.com and we will display them. Have fun, be healthy and be ready!
For Life and Healthy Living,
Ms. Dawn
How did your emergency room visit go? What would you have done differently? Everyone can benefit from you experience, please comment below. Comments by Nurses and emergency room personnel also welcome.
Another germ related post you may enjoy about health promotion, hand washing with PDF’s about germs etc..
Free Hand Washing Activity eBook.
