Emergency Services

Call 911 or Emergency Services right away if your child:

• Cannot breath
• Has blue lips or skin
• Doesn’t have a heart beat
• Is not able to wake up - unresponsive
• Is having a seizure

Call the Jim and Trudy Maloof St. Jude Affiliate Clinic at OSF Healthcare Children’s Hospital of Illinois at (309) 624-4945 if your child has any of the following:

• Fever of 100.4 F orally
• Shivering, fever or chills, especially after the central line or port is flushed
• Pain, redness and/or swelling anywhere in the body 
• Pain or redness at the central line/port catheter site
• Break or tear in the central line
• Change in vision
• Seems awake but “out of it” 
• Cannot respond to questions
• Exposure to chickenpox
• Nose bleed or bleeding from the gums that does not stop within 5-10 minutes of pressure
• Blood in the urine or stool
• Bleeding that is not normal
• Pain or burning with urination or a bowel movement
• Vomit or stool that looks black or green
• Vomiting that lasts longer than 8 hours
• Easy bruising or tiny red freckles on the skin called petechiae
• Difficulty breathing
• A change in behavior or level of consciousness
• Being unusually sleepy or irritable
• Not making sense when talking
• Slurring speech
• Severe headache
• Heart pounding
• Facial droop and or drooling
• Crying that cannot be distracted or crying with no tears
• Not able to keep medicines down 2 times in a row
• Mouth sores that make it difficult to drink

Visiting an Emergency Department

In an emergent situation such as seizure, loss of consciousness or difficulty breathing, go to the closest Emergency Department (ED). We will equip you with a Fever Neutropenia Card that explains your child’s condition and gives instructions as to how to care for your child. Please remember to call the St. Jude Affiliate Clinic at (309) 624-4945 and speak with the physician on call for further instructions and to be transferred, if necessary.

When you arrive in the ED, tell the nurse that your child is being treated for cancer or a blood disorder, and they potentially may have low blood counts. Also explain your child’s specific diagnosis, most recent blood counts and the most recent medications that your child has received.  Make sure you communicate that your child may not receive an enema, suppository or rectal temperature. If your child has a fever, the team should give your child antibiotics within 30 minutes, which is instructed on your Fever Neutropenia Card.