Lake Forest Hospital was experiencing a rash of unusual emergencies, unusual, that is, for a medical center that treats humans. Winthrop Harbor 8-year-old Haley Neiper had brought her tiger “Tigger” in with a sore tail. Lake Bluff 5-year-old Dougie Home thought “Hoppy,” his kangaroo, had a broken leg. Libertyville 5-year-old Amanda Klaus thought her bear, “Panda,” had a similar problem. And these were just a few of the approximately 75 “cases” that needed either an X-ray, a blood-pressure and temperature check, medicine or a bandage when the hospital recently held its second annual “Teddy Bear” clinic.
“We want to demystify the medical experience for children. Everyone here is focusing on a different aspect of health,” said event organizer Sharon Hopkins, a registered nurse and the hospital’s Emergency Medical Services-Trauma coordinator.
Indeed, while a pharmacist at a medicine station was showing members of Lake Bluff’s Boy Scout Troop 42’s Wolf Cubs and Webelos how closely M & M’s resembled iron pills, other youngsters practiced teeth brushing on the mouth of “Dominic the Dalmatian,” a toy dog.
Still others had their fingerprints taken by a Lake Forest Police Department officer, heard about accident prevention from fire department officials from Lake Forest, saw how staff measured vital signs and role-played hospital visits with teachers from Dearhaven, a day care center on the hospital campus.
Near a string of real X-rays, Dearhaven teacher-cum doctor-for-a-day Julie Allen was gently wrapping Tigger’s tail.
“Apparently he bounced too hard when chasing Eeyore,” Allen told Haley as mom Sheryl Neiper looked on.
Explaining that the clinic was a family outing that also included Ashley, 11, Lindsey, 9, and Richard, 3, Neiper said, “This is wonderful. The children are learning a lot.”
At the back of some parents’ minds also lurked the thought that the familiarization might pave the way for a youngster’s doctor or hospital experience. It did last year for Dougie Home. The clinic was a practice run for the youngster who had his tonsils taken out less than two weeks later.
“The operation and hospital stay went brilliantly,” said his mom, Robyn Home, who had returned with Dougie, his twin sister, Cortney, and their 7-year-old brother, Alexander.
“They wanted to come back because they wanted more information and they wanted to try out other things. They think the hospital is a cool place,” Home said.
