Parental Presence During Procedures
During anesthesia induction
A maximum of two parents or two other family members (over the age of 18) are allowed to be present when the induction of anesthesia takes place with the following exceptions:
- The anesthesiologist or other physician feels that, because of specific medical issues, parental presence will compromise the safety of the child.
- PainFree personnel feel that because of lack of available staff, proper support cannot be given to parents who enter the anesthesia induction area.
- In general, children under 8 months of age (who have not yet reached the stage of stranger anxiety) do not require parental presence for "calming" during induction.
After the induction of anesthesia, parent(s) and family must leave the PainFree area. Before leaving the area, you will receive a pager. After the test or procedure is complete, you will be paged to PainFree to be present with your child as he or she emerges from sedation or anesthesia.
During tests or procedures
It is important that medical personnel be able to focus solely on their patient, so parents/family members are not allowed to be present during tests or procedures with the following exception:
- If the requirements of the specific procedure indicate that the child will be awake and aware during periods of the procedure, one parent/family member may be permitted to be present as the child is emerging from sedation.
