Another day, another trip to the ER

[conuly]

Which makes twice in, what, two months? I need to make an emergency kit. It is SO BORING being there, and some of the kids stuck there could've used some entertainment as well, then they'd've hopefully shut up for a minute.

What should I put in there besides the obvious?

Comments

[stardreamer]

Food and drink -- snack bars and bottled water work well. A jacket, because it's always freezing cold in the hospital. A power bank and charging cord for your phone. If you're in there for anything that might involve puking or purging, a change of clothes.

[conuly]

YO WATER IS ALREADY ON MY LIST IN THREE DIFFERENT PLACES. Why they don't have more water fountains, easily marked, I don't know.

[gingicat]

I hope this is the last time for a while! But if that’s unlikely, have a small-as-possible go bag.

Seconding the list above.

Things to share with kids - simply a deck of cards.

And a book or two - audiobook if you don’t think you’ll be able to focus your eyes.

[conuly]

Things to share with kids - simply a deck of cards.

That's a possibility, though I was thinking something consumable, like coloring pages or crosswords. Some of these kids are pretty small, poor babies.

[fred_mouse]

String to play cat's cradle?

If you are putting in a deck of cards, bookmark some solitaire and basic group game instructions in your phone, so that they can be easily referenced.

When the kids were younger, I always had a box of emergency lego in the back of the car (assorted bits from wherever, not any of the kits we'd bought), which kept more than one bored random kid amused. Bit harder to have in a go bag.

chewing gum. I carry spearmint, because the flavour calms my stomach.

With snacks, I used to carry mixed fruit and nuts, although ER might not be a good place for nuts. The logic being that they can be more easily doled out than snack bars.

[conuly]

I'm worried about legos getting lost (and being a safety hazard), but that's a good general principle. Maybe I Spy tubes?

[adrian_turtle]

What's obvious for you? What do you usually carry when you're not going to the ER, but just planning to spend a few hours back and forth on subways?

I like reading aloud, so if I might need to entertain kids I try to have age-appropriate stories handy on my phone. Yours are well past picture book age, if I remember correctly. I just discovered the Libby app for phones and tablets, which makes it possible for me to check out ebooks from the library (I couldn't deal with the DRM before.)

Bring a phone charger. You might be there a while. And sweaters for everybody.

[conuly]

My nieces aren't going to the hospital with me unless they're the injured party. Fuck that shit. I'm not going to put them through that!

But we had to sit across from a succession of bored preschoolers, and while they - happily! - weren't too upset over their various injuries, they were all in that chatty stage and there's only so many times I want to hear "Mom! Mom! Tomorrow's my birthday! Mom! Mom! There's a baby! Did you see the baby, mom?" before I scream. I'm thinking some crayons and coloring pages. Then I can hear "Mom! Mom! This has Superman! Mom! I love Superman!" or whatever instead.

[larryhammer]

We travel with a couple toy cars in the cupholder(s) of the car-seat, which get brought inside whenever we anticipate a long dead space. Add, lessee, a couple of those small Dover activity books, a pack of crayons, something to draw/color, and some battered (i.e. well-loved) books, and you'd have our basic plane travel kit.

Don't know what would work best for you, of course, and TBD is very much younger, but just tossing that out in case ideas help.

[conuly]

My nieces are old enough to stay home unless they're the ones injured or sick, thankfully. I'm looking for ways to entertain other people's kids!

[monanotlisa]

Maybe some magazines you've put off reading -- something deep and cool and scientific, if it's for an adult.

For a kid...what do they do these days that approximates a GameBoy?

[conuly]

The iPhone, that's what you hand kids! Well, strike that, I'm not handing stranger's kids my phone.

[lilysea]

A bottle of water. Snacks.

Acetaminophen/Paracetamol in case the person who is NOT the patient gets a headache.

Several pairs of earplugs - emergency departments can be LOUD, and sick people can't cope well with noise.

A face mask for blocking out painful bright light - this kinda thing:

https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Sleep-Eye-Mask-Comfortable/dp/B079246ZVX/ref=sr_1_10_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1524586039&sr=8-10&keywords=eye+mask

[conuly]

Several pairs of earplugs - emergency departments can be LOUD, and sick people can't cope well with noise.

You got that right! But if I go with my mother she only wants to talk talk talk talk talk. I don't know if she'd buy into earplugs for either of us.

[marahmarie]

So whatever side of you your mom sits on, you just leave that earplug out (I was going to suggest bringing earplugs, myself).

Do kids still play jacks (revealing my age here)? Maybe a jacks set. Coloring books, crayons, simple children's reading books.

I don't know why ERs don't have the Kids Entertainment section replete with iPads, TVs, coloring books, board games, other games, reading books, picture books, an attendant so mom/dad/other family member or family friend can take a freaking break, but I guess none of them ever do.

[conuly]

They still sell jacks, so somebody must play it.

[cloudsinvenice]

Great idea to have something on hand for other people's kids. One A&E visit in November was enlivened by (give me strength) a small child firing a newly opened plastic dart gun around the department. It was obvious that the hospital shop had one of those spinny racks of cheap toys of the sort you can get for a pound, and they'd grabbed whatever from the limited selection appealed to their kid.

I'd suggest finding a cheap supplier of multiples, e.g. party suppliers, and getting some sticker books and magic slates.

[conuly]

One A&E visit in November was enlivened by (give me strength) a small child firing a newly opened plastic dart gun around the department. It was obvious that the hospital shop had one of those spinny racks of cheap toys of the sort you can get for a pound, and they'd grabbed whatever from the limited selection appealed to their kid.

And nobody said anything!?

[cloudsinvenice]

People here worship their kids and if you complain there's a high chance you'll get an indignant parent barking at you. I suspect that nobody wants to be THAT person in a waiting room full of people they may be spending many hours with. So it didn't surprise me that nobody complained, but it did slightly surprise me that they were stupid enough to buy the thing in the first place, and not to take the dart away from him once they realised, HELLO, FOUR-YEAR-OLD WITH SPRING-LOADED DART GUN!

[conuly]

I dunno, I think I'd have to weigh the odds and take my chances. Maybe I'd see if I could get staff to back me up. A squawking parent is annoying, but that kid sounds like a hazard.

[wpadmirer]

I am of no help with this. For me the solution to everything is a book.

But it would be nice to have something for the poor kids who end up in ERs. Not only do they have to deal with stress, they have to deal with boredom!

[conuly]

For me the solution to everything is a book.

You and me both!

[killing_rose]

Back in the day when I had to wrangle small children for a variety of reasons, I took the Babysitters Club idea for kid-kits and found that small children were generally much better when entertained.

So: Uno is the obvious one, decks of cards, go fish, one of those memory matching games (also card-based). Couple of beat to hell books, a couple of baby toys. Snacks--I'd say try for gluten and nut free (fruit snacks, not!trail mix [enjoy life has one that's quite delicious, actually], applesauce squeezables, something like that).

[conuly]

Not giving snacks to stranger's kids in the hospital, so that's out, but the rest makes sense, thanks :)

Now, snacks for us grown-ups was already on my list, underlined!

[gwydion]

I used to bring snacks and plenty to read.

[conuly]

Thank goodness ereaders exist, that's all I can say.

[bibliofile]

Other thought: book or sheets of find-a-thing pictures. Not necessarily Waldo, but more like I Spy. Great books, don't have to read (or read English). If you have a paperback one you don't mind hauling around.

[flamingsword]

I grab toys from coin vending machines whenever I see something unlikely to be weaponized. Kids generally are at their loudest when bored, tired, or overstimulated. Allowing them to retreat into their imagination is a good use of a quarter for stickers or rubber finger puppets or whatnot.

Things not covered by previous posters: hand sanitizer. A playlist you and your mother can both listen to softly- lots of people won't talk as much if there's music. Pen and small notebook. Hygiene products for yourself and others. Lip balm for the dry air. Neck pillow if you are someone who can sleep in public or feel safe pretending to so that people leave you alone.

[mme-n-b.livejournal.com]

Sorry :(((( My emergency kit includes 2 activity books/packs (coloring or stickers); wet wipes, tissue, gum, and an iPad - can you guess with whom I often get stuck in boring places? I also often carry small random gifts for random people.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Do you count food as 'obvious'? Nuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, energy bars. Tissues, wipes, eye drops, lip balm. Books, little blank notebooks and sketchbooks, colored pens and pencils (and sharpeners,) puzzle toys (http://www.brilliantpuzzles.com/). A couple of fleece throws.

The classic waiting-room games are Tic-tac-toe, Dots, and Hangman, but there are a lot of others that can be played with just pencil and paper. Waiting quietly and politely for a long time in a boring public space is a difficult but essential skill to learn, and I don't see that supplying too much 'entertainment' is helpful to kids learning it. One can't really take on responsibility for entertaining other peoples' children who haven't been taught the meaning of 'quietly and politely'.

[conuly]

Waiting quietly and politely for a long time in a boring public space is a difficult but essential skill to learn, and I don't see that supplying too much 'entertainment' is helpful to kids learning it.

If there's any chance at all that I'll be in a boring public space, I have a book with me. I don't know who the heck these parents are who go out places with their kids and don't bring a book or a pad of paper or anything at all, but it's not reasonable to ask small children to sit quietly with nothing at all to do.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I know, right? And then they don't even talk to the kids. If there was a qualifying exam for parenthood, the population of the world would sure be smaller.

[conuly]

And to be fair, most of those kids were plenty polite. Actually, all of them were, and they sat still. They were just chatty, with parents too preoccupied to respond much. Which is fine, except omg.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Ah well, children's voices can't help being shrill, and most hospitals have terrible acoustics. Add ear-plugs to your emergency bag list - I use Mack's (https://www.google.com/search?q=mack%27s+pillow+soft+silicone+earplugs); they work great.