MassGeneral Opens 'Ouchless ER' In Salem

SALEM, MA - From North Shore Medical Center: A trip to the emergency room can be scary, especially for a child. To help take the anxiety away, MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center has developed the first “Ouchless ER” on the North Shore to alleviate the pain of an unplanned trip to the hospital.

“Going to the emergency room is overwhelming enough for kids,” says Brian Sanders, M.D., Chair of Pediatrics at MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center. “The goal of our ‘Ouchless ER’ is to make shots and other procedures less scary with the help of non-invasive pain-relief methods.”

As part of our “Ouchless ER,” NSMC pediatric emergency physicians and nurses are trained in
distraction and sensitivity techniques and use a variety of tools to make administering shots,
wound stitching, inserting IVs and drawing blood less traumatic for young patients, including:

• Age-appropriate distraction techniques such as coloring books, games, bubbles, or a child’s favorite movie/show from our large collection
• Pain-relieving sprays, gels, and creams
• Nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
• Needle-free devices that numb injection points

“As a parent and nurse in the ER, I know that going to the emergency room with your child is
extremely scary,” says Annmarie Chase, R.N., Emergency Services Nurse Director. “That feeling only intensifies when your child is in pain. Being an ‘Ouchless ER’ means we’re now equipped with the tools and techniques to make a trip to the emergency room less scary for kids and therefore easier on parents.”

The Pediatric Emergency Department at MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center is the only one on the North Shore staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with pediatric physicians, nurses and clinical specialists. Pediatric experts from NSMC and MassGeneral for Children work together in Salem to provide local kids with an exceptional network of services including behavioral health, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nutrition, nephrology, neurology, pediatric surgery, pulmonology and rheumatology.

“In addition to great care, we want to provide comfort and peace of mind to our patients and their
families,” says Sanders.

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