• Pool Safety for the Summer | Dr. Josyann Abisaab

    While staycations are great fun and a relaxing way to enjoy the summer, they can also be a recipe for disaster.  As emergency room doctors like Dr. Josyann Abisaab can attest, children are often brought to the emergency room with accidents that could have been avoided. The home swimming pool can be just as dangerous as the vast ocean. As the Insurance Information Institute reports, each year about 43,000 people are injured in or near a pool and more than 600 people drown at their home pools or at public pool locations. You should make sure that anyone who swims in the family pool knows how to swim well before…

  • New Study Shows Importance of Hypoxia for TBI Patients

    One of the more common reasons for emergency room visits is head trauma. A new study published in November’s issue of the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Neurosurgery, has shown that low oxygen supply, or hypoxia, to vulnerable brain tissue is a crucial factor in the risk of death or severe disability after serious traumatic brain injury (TBI.) The study showed that the larger the decrease in brain oxygenation, the higher the risk of severe disability or death. The study strongly suggests that patients with prolonged periods of brain hypoxia have an increased likelihood of having poor prognosis separate from the results of intracranial pressure, brain blood…

  • What to Expect in the ER: Part 2

    After Triage If your child’s problem does not require immediate attention, then you will need to wait. Luckily you have some books, toys and/or crayons (see part 1) to help pass the time with your child. Your child might need an x-ray or other tests, and you might be told that your child should not eat or drink until after the tests are completed. Your Turn Arrives Finally, you and your child will be called into the examination room. You may have to wait a bit longer until a doctor arrives. When the doctor arrives, you will be asked about your child’s medical issue and additional tests may be ordered. When…

  • Dr. Josyann Abysaab:What to Expect in the ER: Part 1

    If you ever need to bring a child to the emergency room, it’s a good idea to prepare him/her in advance. If he knows what to expect, the trauma of the visit will be reduced to a minimum. On the Way to the ER Although it is certainly possible to drive to the emergency room yourself, if you need to get your child there quickly, consider calling 911 for an ambulance. Not only is an ambulance the fastest way to get to the ER, but there are trained professionals in the ambulance who can administer care. If you have time, bring some of your child’s belongings that can comfort and…

  • New York’s Emergency Response to the Attack on the WTC

    Today is the 10th anniversary of what has become known as “9-11,” the attack by terrorists in two airplanes, each of which crashed into one of the two twin towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, causing them both to collapse within two hours. 2,801 people were killed in that horrific event, 147 of whom were passengers on the two planes. As one might imagine, New York’s emergency services were sorely taxed by this catastrophe, including the City’s public health, health care, and social service systems. On this day of memorial and commemoration, it is important to take note of the heroic efforts of the dedicated people that helped…