Care In An Emergency

For CHRISTUS School Clinic staff members, their care of students can sometimes go beyond scraped knees and runny noses.

During a recent school field day, Nohemi Flores, CMA and Erika Muniz, RN were confronted with two potential emergency situations. A 5-year-old girl was suffering from an allergic reaction. “She was brought up to the first aid booth by her teacher, because she had ant bites on her foot,” said Flores. “Her foot was swelling so badly that her shoe no longer fit.”

When the mother was contacted, she informed Flores that her daughter was allergic to ants. “We applied hydorcortisone and administered loratadine, while we waited for the mother.”

Another allergic reaction occurred in a 12-year-old boy. He was bitten by an insect and had multiple rashes on his body. “The boy’s parent was at the school and was notified about the situation,” said Flores.

With no other symptoms aside from the rashes, Muniz administered Benadryl, as they waited for the parent. “Because of the multiple rashes, we advised the parent to go to an urgent care for further evaluation. A nurse practitioner at Harris Health contacted us later in the day to let us know that the patient was stable and under her care. We were so grateful to learn that he had no further reactions to the bite.”