Important Appointment Protocols

Call 911 (emergency medical services) for life threatening emergencies in which your child may require resuscitation (your child is not breathing, is choking severely, is unconscious, has uncontrolled bleeding, or is having seizures, for example.) 

*Call our office for non-threatening emergencies such as trauma, difficulty breathing, (wheezing), wounds that might need suturing, possible fractures, rectal temperatures of 100.4 or higher in an infant under 2 months of age (except after an immunization.) The phone number is (847)296-8127. 

*For poisoning or medication overdoses, call The Poison Control Center at (800)222-1222

If your child is sick and you want the doctors to see him/her, call ahead for an appointment. Try to call about sick children during the early morning office hours. Telephone triage nurses make appointments for patients who need to be seen by the doctor. They also advise on home care for children who don’t need to be seen. If necessary the clinician will consult a physician and call you back. *If the office staff is busy, you can leave a message. While waiting for a callback, try to keep your line open. If your call isn’t returned within 60 minutes, call again. In general we try to return calls within 15 minutes. Keep in mind that Monday mornings and afternoons after 3pm are our busiest times.

Your child’s main symptoms 

• Any chronic disease, health problems, or allergies your child has 
• Your child’s temperature (if he/she is sick) 
• Your child’s approximate weight (for calculating drug doses)  The names and dosages of any medicines your child is taking 
• Your pharmacy’s telephone number (for late evening calls, make sure that the pharmacy is open 24 hours) 
• Your questions (it is a good idea to write them down)

After office hours, call us for emergencies or urgent problems that can’t wait until morning. Calls about mild illnesses can usually wait. We need to keep the line open at night for urgent calls. After office hours your calls will be received by our answering service and transferred to the physician on call. The doctor will usually return your call within 60-90 minutes. If you do not receive a callback within 1 ½ hours in an non-emergency situation please call back.

 *Please keep in mind that the doctors may not have access to the patients’ medical records when the office is closed.

Non-emergency early morning phone calls (6:00am -8:30am) disrupt hospital rounds. Please place those calls when the office reopens at 8:30am.

We are happy to provide you with the health information you need to be an informed parent. Please place calls about behavior questions, well-child nutrition, toilet training, or constipation issues during the weekday office hours. The best time to call is usually early afternoon, when our phones are least busy.