Grateful for Local Emergency Care [Cassi Wright]

My name is Cassi Wright, and I have been in Brookings for about 15 years now. And I currently work at First Bank & Trust.

What brought your son to the emergency room?

My son was about 18 months at the time and he had an accident at daycare that caused a black eye. And it was, you know, kind of to his face, so we were a little concerned about possible concussion or something. And then in the middle of the night, he started vomiting. So, we decided it was definitely time to have him checked.

How did the ER staff initially treat your son?

Well, I mean it was about 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m., we were greeted right away, taken back right away. Saw a nurse first for kind of, you know, the vitals and everything. And then I would say within minutes, the doctor was in there. He, you know, asked me a lot of questions because, you know, obviously, he can't talk for himself. So, just kind of the things that I had noticed. And then he did some different little tests. Just kind of having him walk around the room, you know, looking at how his eyes are responding, kind of seeing if he would, you know, talk or say the few words he does know. And he was responding well to all of those, and things were looking good. So, he thought that we were probably safe not doing any super invasive testing or anything.

How was your communication with the ER staff?

I think everybody did a great job. You know, they checked us in right away. And she actually just, you know, got up from her desk and walked us right back, and then, you know, the nurse was right there. And, you know, kind of asking me all the questions while doing, you know, the regular temperature and everything like that. And doctor came in and kind of just confirmed some things, and then started doing his checks and he was really explaining it kind of the whole time while he was doing it. Shining the flashlight in his eyes and he's wanting, you know, his pupils to be responding appropriately. And he was actually even kind of showing me that they were. So, that was very reassuring to me definitely.

How did staff make your son feel comfortable?

I think just being very calm and they were both very kind of bubbly, lively people, made it kind of fun for him and I think that kind of set him at ease too. But they were using...there's, like, a dog house and little tree and different like stickers on the wall, and they were kind of using those and would you go touch the tree. They were really, really creative in trying to get him to get up and move around because he didn't really want to get off my lap, but they needed to see him walk and do some different things. So, they were really creative using things in the room and, you know, giving him different things to hold and see what he did with it. And when, especially, I mean, you know, he's in his pajamas in a weird place in the middle of the night, and he just, you know, wants to sit on my lap. So, it was kind of hard to convince him to walk for sure, but they did a great job.

What was your son's diagnosis?

They kind of just had this suspicion that maybe it was just a little bit of nausea, maybe the stomach flu, something like that, because he was doing so well on all the tests, probably just bad timing that they both happened in the same day. So, they did end up giving him like an anti-nausea medication, and kind of just watching him for a little bit. You know, he kept it down. He started drinking water after that, that he was keeping down and they said, you know, just kind of keep an eye, and then yeah, the next morning we found out from daycare that the stomach flu was going around his room. So, they were absolutely right.

Why was it important to have emergency care close to home?

I was very grateful. I mean, we live a mile away, so, you know, it wasn't something where we needed an ambulance or, you know, anything like that. So, being able to, you know, my husband stayed home with our other children, so we didn't have to wake them up in the middle of the night. I was here in two minutes and checked in. And from the time I decided we need to come in to the time, a doctor's there evaluating him was 10, 15 minutes maybe. And that's amazing. I mean, you know, the longer that you wait, the crazier things you can dream up in your mind. So, me as a mom, my anxiety, everything, we really appreciate how quickly everything can be handled here.

Why do you recommend the Brookings ER?

I think it's a great place. I mean, luckily, I haven't had to be here often, but when I am, you know, I always feel very taken care of. And, you know, you hear about the wait times in the big cities and stuff like that. And I just can't imagine sitting there being anxious and waiting that whole time. You know, you're taken in very quickly, efficiently. You see a doctor that cares and knows what to do and what to recommend. And it's amazing to be treated like that as an adult, personally as the concerned mom with their toddler, it's invaluable.

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