Medically reviewed by Dr. Luke Bertorelli, MD, Board-Certified in Emergency Medicine, Surepoint Emergency Centers
Last reviewed: October 2026
An unexpected trip to the emergency room can become a family story. For a child, it can also shape what medical care feels like.
Children can turn an ordinary afternoon into a story their parents will tell for decades. Sometimes that story includes stitches. Occasionally, it includes a medical problem so peculiar that the family ends up on the news.
In a Texas story reported in 2022, a thirteen-year-old was annoying his mother with the squeaker from a dog toy when he accidentally swallowed it. In the emergency room, he squeaked whenever he laughed. His mother recorded the sound and the video went viral. Doctors removed the squeaker with a scope, and the family went home. But he had missed his Boy Scout camping trip.
The story has the ingredients of a family legend: an inexplicable decision, an alarming development, a good outcome, and an experience a child will never forget. It also contains a detail that received less attention than the squeaking. The teen told ABC News that he had been afraid the toy would move and interfere with his breathing. He could laugh and still be frightened.
For many children, an unexpected mishap is their introduction to emergency medicine. Where they go, how long they wait, and how people respond can strongly impact their relationship to emergency medicine well into adulthood.
What Stays With A Child
Before our team members cared for patients, managed facilities or helped families with billing, many of them were patients themselves. Others have since sat beside their own kids in an exam room. Between them, there are slammed fingers, surprise allergies and one very memorable nose swab. When we asked them about these childhood ER visits, they remembered every detail. That reveals an essential truth about the work we do every day: protecting a child’s emotional experience is vital to pediatric care.
In Their Words
- “I slammed my finger in the door at Weiner’s! Remember that store? The gentleman leaving felt so bad he came to the ER with my mother and me, where I got stitches.”
Amy Taylor, Director of Community Development - “My daughter threw up out of her nose and mouth during a nose swab. All over the nurse. We laugh about it now. The nurse was not laughing back then …”
Ashley Castro, Billing Coordinator/Patient Advocate - “I was diagnosed with asthma in the ER. I remember it being scary, and I hated the oxygen mask.”
Lena Vasquez, Billing Coordinator/Patient Advocate - “We didn’t know about my son’s tree nut allergy until he had a reaction. The physicians and the nursing staff at the emergency room took great care of him.”
Jose Herrera, Facilities Manager - “After a dog bit me while visiting Turkey, I needed a series of rabies shots. I’d cling to every doorframe between home and the ER, trying to avoid the next one. My mother always got me there.”
Jesse Whitehead, Senior Director of Medical Operations
Some of these stories make us laugh. Others still bring back a little of the fear. What stands out is what people remember. They don’t remember the diagnosis or the discharge papers. They remember the kind stranger, the determined parent, the nurse who took it in stride and the mask that felt frightening. Years later, they remember how the visit felt.
Why the First Visit Carries Weight
Pediatric emergency medicine has recognized this for years. In its policy statement on pain and anxiety in emergency care, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that how well a child’s pain and stress are managed “can have a lasting effect on a child’s and family’s reaction to current and future medical care.” The same statement recommends simple steps to create a calmer, more favorable environment for children, along with nonmedical approaches to reducing stress.
Those approaches work. In a study of children getting stitches in the emergency department, those who were prepared ahead of time and given something to focus on during the procedure showed significantly less fear and distress, and their parents reported higher satisfaction with care.
The takeaway is simple. For children, the setting where care happens is part of the care.
Where They Land, How Long They Wait, How They’re Treated
Where they land. More than 80 percent of children who need emergency care are seen at a general emergency department rather than a children’s hospital. Most children form their first impression of emergency medicine at whichever ER is closest to home. In a busy hospital ER, that can mean a crowded waiting room shared with seriously ill adults, which is a lot for a frightened child to take in. Surepoint’s neighborhood locations treat patients in private rooms, in a quieter setting where a parent can stay at the child’s side.
How long they wait. The national median time spent in an emergency department was 161 minutes for the 12 months ending June 2025, according to CMS data, and high-volume Texas hospitals can run as high as 5 hours. For a child holding a throbbing finger, the waiting room is where worry has time to grow. Surepoint patients are seen with little to no wait, and families can check in online before they leave the house.
How they’re treated. Children notice when an adult explains what is happening to them. Surepoint’s emergency-trained physicians build personalized treatment plans and take time to listen to the whole story. On-site lab testing, X-ray, ultrasound and CT mean most families get answers in a single visit instead of being sent somewhere else for imaging. When a child does need a higher level of care, such as a children’s hospital, the transfer is coordinated for the family.
Helping Your Child Through a Visit
Parents shape much of how a child experiences the ER. A few things help:
- Stay as calm as you can. Children take their cues from the adults around them.
- Be honest. “This might pinch for a second” builds more trust than “this won’t hurt.”
- Bring something familiar, like a favorite blanket or stuffed animal.
- Afterward, talk about it, praise their bravery, and answer any questions they still have.
Where Surepoint Fits
Many people on the Surepoint team were once the child in the exam room, or the parent standing beside one. Those memories are a reminder that every child who comes through our doors may be forming a first impression of emergency care, and that those impressions last.
Kids will keep climbing, exploring and testing every limit, and some of those adventures will end in an emergency room. Surepoint Emergency Centers provide 24/7 emergency care, including pediatric emergencies, at 13 locations across Texas, with little to no wait, private rooms, emergency-trained physicians, and on-site lab and imaging. When your child’s darnedest thing becomes an ER visit, we want it to be one they remember for the right reasons.
Dr. Luke Bertorelli, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Surepoint Emergency Center in Fort Worth, TX. He has 19 years of experience in emergency medicine across Texas.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or visit your nearest emergency room immediately. This post is for informational purposes only and does not replace guidance from your healthcare provider.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics; ChildStats.gov; American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Emergency Physicians; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services via Becker’s Hospital Review; peer-reviewed research on child life interventions in emergency care. Current as of October 2026.