If you walk though the doors of the hospital with your child, you’ll generally start with the Emergency Department. It’s where your child is assessed for treatment.

Your child may get better with treatment in ED, and then you will go home. If your child needs more care by other specialist doctors, they will be admitted to hospital, and moved to the Children’s Hospital to be cared for by the most appropriate specialist teams.

is at the front desk. They will ask you/ your child to describe your illness or pain, take your child’s temperature, and check their pulse. They may also give your child some pain relief while they are waiting to be seen by a doctor. Waiting times in the ED can be several hours, as doctors see patients in the order of who is sickest or most badly injured first, not in the order of when you arrive. If your child gets sicker or their pain gets worse while you are waiting, politely approach the desk and let them know your child is feeling worse than when you arrived.

the clerk will call you up and take your details (name, address, GP, Medicare card, private health insurance card and other information). You will then have to wait until your child is called to be seen by a doctor in ED.

a nurse will come from the area of ED where they treat people and call your child’s name when a bed becomes available for them. You and your child will follow them to your allocated bed. ED nurses are dressed in Navy blue scrubs, or sometimes very colourful scrubs to cheer children up.

a junior doctor. They will listen to your description of your child’s illness/reason for pain and examine your child. They will order any medications, blood tests, IV fluids, pain relief and other imaging such as x-rays or ultrasound. They will usually speak with the consultant about what they have found, the likely issue causing your child’s pain or illness and the recommended treatment.

The emergency department is led by Emergency Medicine specialists. Once your child has been initially reviewed, you will meet the Emergency Specialist, sometimes just called the Doctor. They will assess your child, ask you to give as much detailed information as you can about their illness, order blood tests or other tests and prescribe medications. They may even call other specialists depending on the likely cause of your child’s illness or pain. Most of the tests, or investigations, ordered by the specialists are then carried out by the registrar and nurses. If you have questions about your child’s condition or medicines, ask the Specialist when they visit your child.