Do you have an emergency medical consent form for your DC if you're away from them?

[jenfromnj]

Am I intensely paranoid to have one of these in place as a precaution/for advance planning, even though we're just now trying to arrange our first overnight away from DS? I'm just asking because it came up in conversation over the weekend, and one of our relatives-who is going to be flying to Florida next weekend for a wedding, leaving her DC in NJ-thought I was crazy for offering to email her a copy of the form I put together for this. Someone even was silly enough to comment that it was "tempting fate" and asking for something to happen (thankfully not a blood relative :)) I also asked a few friends, and none of them have done this either, even though they've all been away from their DCs for at least a night at some point. It made me wonder if it's really that uncommon.

I authorize my parents and my sister (the only people he has been left with/who I would leave him with at this point) to seek emergency medical help for DS should the need arise. I even had it notarized, just in case. It just gives me peace of mind. I can't be the only one who is this paranoid, right? Right?

[egoldber]

I've done this, but I've been told it's pretty meaningless.

[lmh2402]

I authorize my parents and my sister (the only people he has been left with/who I would leave him with at this point) to seek emergency medical help for DS should the need arise. I even had it notarized, just in case. It just gives me peace of mind. I can't be the only one who is this paranoid, right? Right?

we did the exact same thing - we had multiple copies signed and notarized so we've got one on our fridge, in our safe and my mom has one

i don't care if i'm paranoid, it makes me feel better

[MolieMuts]

I do this. We left DS2 with my mom a while back for a weekend and left a form with medical consent w/ the drs. name and number and a copy of our insurance card. He had just had a round of shots before we left, so I left a list of those in case he had a reaction to any of them. I am a worrier though.

[Andi98989]

My parents and IL's each have a form in their possession so that they can take DS to the pediatrician or hospital if needed.

I called my pediatrician to see what they needed; they said just a note from me was fine. I took (http://www.gundluth.com/upload/docs/Forms/44077.pdf)this form, re-worded it, and used it.

[sewarsh]

i also did one. it says something like, "in the case of emergency, X is permitted to make all medical decisions for DC in my absense".

i did not have it notorized.

[belovedgandp]

Our pediatrician has one that applies to their office, I authorize my parents. I took their wording and wrote up another one for my parents to have.

It's part of a big long sheet that has all our critical information. My parents always have it. Now this wasn't started until we went on a trip without our oldest for 10 days. We were out of the country for the first time. All other times we'd never been more than an hour way. DS1 had an eye doctor's appointment during that time and they did request I send a note in with my mom and son saying she could bring him and discuss his treatment.

[sste]

You may want to ask your pedi if it would be helpful to attach a photocopy (both sides) of your insurance card. Not sure about this, but I am wondering. It is a sad statement but alot of hospitals will just warehouse the patient until they get insurance approval unless its a dire emergency type situation.

[bekahjean]

My parents watched DS for a week last fall while DH and I went to Cabo. We went to the JAG office on base, and they did a medical power of attorney for both my mom and dad. The POA is good for 1 year.
It took less than 15 minutes, and it made it a whole lot easier to enjoy my vacation.
I know that a lot of my friends don't have one, though. One of the reasons we decided to get it is because everything is just so much more complicated in the military. If they decided to give my parents a hard time, there wouldn't have been much we could have done about it from Mexico.

I absolutely recommend it.

[crl]

We did one when we left DS with the grandparents overnight. Also left them our insurance info and his doctor's name and number.

Catherine

[Raidra]

We haven't gone away without kids for a long time (probably since before Lachlann was born), but we definitely would if we did. Also include stuff like their doctor's contact info, any important medical information, and insurance info. Our contact info on the same paper.

We took my little sister with us to Florida once when she was under 18, and we had my parents write up something similar. We didn't need it, but I felt better knowing we had it.

[jenfromnj]

You may want to ask your pedi if it would be helpful to attach a photocopy (both sides) of your insurance card. Not sure about this, but I am wondering. It is a sad statement but alot of hospitals will just warehouse the patient until they get insurance approval unless its a dire emergency type situation.

This is a good point--I forgot to mention that I included copies of DS's insurance card as well a a copy of his birth certificate, just in case.

[s7714]

Yes, any time we're going more than a couple hours away, especially if it's overnight. And if a DC has any type of medical issues (severe allergies, etc.) I think important to have that type of documentation in place. My older DD has a rare medical condition--I always leave a letter from a specialist verifying her condition as well as copies of our insurance card along with the medical consent form.

If you're really that concerned, ask both your ped's office and the local hospital. They'll let you know if they'd even accept those forms.