Every parent knows the feeling – it’s the middle of the night and your little one is sick or injured and you don’t know whether to take them to hospital, call 000 or if it can wait until morning.
You don’t want to be that parent who overreacts, but you also don’t want to put your child at risk, so you end up bundling them up in their warmest PJs and make your way to Emergency where you may wait hours to see a doctor.
There is an alternative: one video call on the My Emergency Dr app allows you to speak to a specialist emergency doctor who can assess your child and tell you whether a visit to the hospital is absolutely necessary. They can even organise a prescription to be sent to your nearest open pharmacy to be picked up at your earliest convenience.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not. My Emergency Dr has been running the service since 2016 and they’ve helped thousands of people across Australia.
Normally it’s a paid service, but eligible residents in the Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network catchment area (Eastern and North Eastern Melbourne) using the service after hours can access it for free until May 2019.
My Emergency Dr CEO, Dr Justin Bowra said the app was developed by a group of Australian emergency department doctors as a way to improve access to emergency care and alleviate pressure on public hospital emergency departments.
“When your GP is available, we recommend that you talk to your GP as usual,” Dr Bowra said.
“But this service is there to help with those times when your GP is not available and you’re just not sure if you need to go to the emergency department.”
All doctors on the app are specialist emergency doctors meaning they are the most senior emergency doctors in Australia.
In the past week alone, Dr Bowra was able to assess and manage several patients over the app including a toddler that swallowed a coin, a baby with a rash that suddenly appeared… and plenty of kids with vomiting! It’s piece of mind when you need it most, without the price tag.
And the service isn’t just for children – My Emergency Dr looks after anyone, whatever their age, including the elderly.
Please visit the website to see if your suburb qualifies for the free funded service under the Eastern Melbourne PHN initiative. Fees may apply for other users.. https://www.myemergencydr.com.au/
