It's two in the morning. You are awakened by the cries of your three year old, who is congested, coughing and has a high fever. Slowly you stumble
to your medicine cabinet to find some aspirin and a bottle of cough syrup. Something in the back
of your mind makes you recall that you should not give Aspirin to a child with a fever, but you can't remember for sure.
And you also don't know if you should give our child adult cough syrup -- and if you can, how much to dosage would be.
In days of old, you would get on the phone to your pediatrician, who may or may not be reachable at such a late hour.
Or, you would call emergency at the hospital, likely to be put on either on hold for an excruciatingly
long time, or forced to wait an equal amount of time for a doctor -- more likely, and intern -- to call you back.
Now, there are more options available for those who need medical advice. There are several services
offering medical information over the phone or Internet, some of which offer the chance to speak to
a registered nurse at any time around the clock.
These services are not designed for people who have a medical emergency, like a serious accident,
poisoning or heart attack in progress. If your concern is an emergency, calling 9-1-1 is
still the only and best choice. However, if you have questions about the best course of treatment
for a minor illness or injury, the side-effects of a certain medication, a referral for
a particular health care service in your area or general questions about anything health-related --
the proper way for a woman to examine her breasts or a list of food recommended for those
who are diabetic, for example -- you don't need to try and call your doctor to make a needless appointment.
Or, even worse, look haphazardly on the Internet for information that could be outdated or false.
To address the need for Edmontonians to have easy access to accurate medical information,
Capital Health Authority has created the Health Link.
With one phone call to (780) 408-LINK (104-5465), you can connect 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a registered nurse.
The service is confidential and free to use and is also available via e-mail, fax and postal mail.
If you have a commonly-asked health question that does not require a personal touch, try The Health Line.
By calling 427-4635 in the Edmonton area (1-877-600-2100 is the toll-free number elsewhere in Alberta),
you can access a wealth of information about every from from abuse and assault to youth topics. Callers choose from
categories of pre-recorded messages covering a particular topic. Brochures are available at
most libraries, which contains a full listing complete with tape numbers, so you can just enter the number
of the specific message you wish to hear. You can also read the messages on The Health Line's Web site.
As well, each week The Edmonton Examiner features a specific message.
On a national level, Friends in Need provides medical information and suggestions over the phone. You get to speak with a registered nurse who will answer your questions, or pick a topic
from the Audio Health Information Library. The number to call is 1-877-757-3987. You must register to use the service and a subscription fee applies.
However, Friends in Need also has useful features such as emergency childcare and elder care dispatch,
and a resource database of professionals to help you with personal needs, such as mental health issues, addictions, family problems and more.
You can meet other Edmontonians live, 24 hours a day in chat.
