Child Life Council Urges Parents to Think Ahead to Ease Child's Hosp...( - Educational Program Prompted by N...),Health

- Educational Program Prompted by Nearly 30 Million Annual Childhood ED

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ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Taking a child to the emergency department (ED) is a journey that parents dread making, but with approximately 30 million children's visits to the ED each year,(1) many families will face this experience at some point in their lives. To help parents and caregivers prepare, the Child Life Council, Anesiva, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANSV) and Dr. William Sears, best-selling author of more than 30 books on parenting, created "Hospital 411: Tips Every Parent Should Know" -- a new educational program that arms parents with information they need to get ready for both planned and unplanned hospital visits for their children, especially the tough issue of managing pain associated with common procedures.

Parents are often unprepared for a hospital encounter and fear can spike before a hospital visit, particularly one that may involve painful procedures. In fact, many children begin their hospital visit with an IV insertion or blood draw, which are among the most frequently reported painful events in hospitalized children.(2) In 2004, more than 18 million peripheral venous access procedures (like IV insertions and blood draws) were performed.(3)

"In my experience, parents and pediatricians have long noticed that children who experience less pain in the hospital have less fear of hospitals as they get older and may even recover faster," said Dr. William Sears, an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.

"Hospital 411" offers parents a variety of practical resources, including tips for what they can do prior to and d
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