If you take your child to the ER (Emergency Room), a doctor or mental health clinician will assess your child. They may then decide that your child does not need to stay in the hospital for further care and can be sent home. That can be scary and frustrating when you feel the hospital might not think the situation is as serious as you do. 

The ER’s focus is to treat the immediate problem and make sure your child is safe. After the immediate crisis is taken care of, it is likely your child will be discharged (sent home). The ER is not going to solve, diagnose or treat our child's overall mental health challenge.

To help you manage at home, the emergency staff should work with you to develop a plan. This includes making a safety plan for what to do if your child needs immediate help again. They will also let you know about or refer you to services for ongoing support in your community.

Here are some options to consider after the visit:

• Remember to look at any papers they gave you at the ER. The papers might have information about services in your community. It might be up to you to make an appointment and call services directly. If the ER says they will set up the appointments and you do not hear back, get in touch with the ER charge nurse to follow-up.
• Make a follow-up appointment with your family doctor to talk about next steps. Often the emergency staff will send records of the ER visit to your doctor, but there is usually a time delay before your doctor receives this information.
• If your child sees a counsellor it is a good idea to make an appointment as soon as you can. It can be good for your child to process the ER experience while it is fresh.
• You can always return to the ER if your child needs immediate help again. It can be helpful to write down specific details of what is going on and bring it with you. That can help communicate your concerns clearly to the ER staff. Do not feel like you can’t go back the same day or the next day if the situation gets worse. Sometimes it can seem like the crisis has passed while the child is in the ER, only to get home and have everything ramp up again. If you feel that there is a safety concern for your child or because of your child, trust your instincts and return to the ER.
• Getting help for yourself is also important. You can start by connecting with our Family Peer Support workers here at the Kelty Centre. It may also help to talk about the experience with a counsellor of your own. It can be hard to reach out for help while you deal with this type of crisis, but it is often worth it.

Are you a parent or caregiver whose child or youth has been a patient in a psychiatric unit? Or has had repeated hospital emergency visits? Find information about the free online Help for the Hard Times workshops offered by FamilySmart.