Had quite a scare the other night. As soon as I walked in the door from work, Moira slipped on a Lego magazine that one of the kids had left lying around, and somehow cracked her head on a bureau that we have temporarily stationed in the hallway.
Now, lest you think Reb and I are complete morons, we did have several cushiony objects around the corners, to attempt to prevent such an occurrence; but somehow Moira, in her assumed flailing, breached the defences, and ended up with a nice little laceration in the back of her head. Quite reminiscent of an injury I one undertook as a kid (though mine involved rocking back in a chair on two legs as the catalyst).
So, having really nothing in the way of saved funds to pay the local urgent care facility, we instead went to the local hospital. There was quite a wait before her treatment, as we progressed through the various stages of patient-hood, but I must say— Shady Grove Hospital was quiet, clean, and calming. That is to say, no more distressing than a normal doctor's office visit, which is not what I've come to expect from the ER.
The trick here is, it wasn't a normal ER. It was a Kid's ER— or rather, a "Pediatric ER," to use their nomenclature. It had a play area for the kids in the waiting room, had staff that knew how to make kids feel at ease, had colorful, calming decorations on the floors, walls, and even ceilings, and even had coloring pages at the nurses' station to entertain patient and sibling alike.
In short, for such a horrible event, it was a great experience. Sure, I couldn't concentrate on the outline I was supposed to be preparing for a presentation today, and sure, I was exhausted by the time we got home, but if you ever have a child with an emergency situation within a close radius of Shady Grove Hospital, I would hreartily recommend it as the place to go.
And don't it beat all— Shady Grove Hospital turns out to actually be Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, and it's run by Adventist Health Care, just like Washington Adventist Hospital (or, as I like to refer to it: Wah!), near my old haunt, CUC [edit, as of 2015 — now Washington Adventist University]. While I may not agree with the Adventist religion (or any religion, for that matter), they sure do make damn good hospitals. Kudos!