Sparky the Fire Dog: Cool to Do

Did you know that injuries are the #1 health risk to children under 14? It's true! Every year in the United States, 13 million kids need to see a doctor because of injuries. And sometimes, those injuries are so serious that the child needs to go to the hospital.

Karen Frush is a doctor at the Emergency Department at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. She's a good friend of mine (and one of my all-time favorite doctors), so I asked her to play a game of "20 Questions" with me. Here's what she had to say:

Dr. Frush with a baby

Question #1: When you were a little girl, did you dream about becoming a doctor?
Dr. Frush: Actually, I wanted to be a gymnast! I competed in gymnastics for about 12 years, then I went to college. It wasn't until my third year of college that I decided I wanted to be a doctor.

Question #2: How long did you have to go to school to become a doctor?
Dr. Frush: I went to college for four years and then to medical school for four more years. Next, I was a "doctor-in-training" (a pediatric resident) for three years, learning about taking care of children. Finally, I completed specialty training in pediatric emergency medicine. It took a long time and a lot of work, but I had a lot of fun, too!

Question #3: How long have you worked in the emergency department?
Dr. Frush: I have worked in the Emergency Department for about 10 years.

Question #4: What advice do you have for kids who want to be doctors?
Dr. Frush: Work hard in school and visit your local hospital or doctor's office to learn about all the jobs that people do. It takes a whole team of people to take care of sick children, and kids have to study hard to do these kinds of jobs.

Question #5: Who is on your team at the hospital?
Dr. Frush: I'm glad you asked this question, Sparky, because it's all about teamwork. There are doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, and child life specialists. Our team also includes people outside of the hospital: firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), police officers, and other rescue workers. They help children and adults who are sick or injured before they get to the hospital. If they do a good job, it makes our job in the hospital much easier!

Dr. Frush with a patient

Question #6: Is your emergency department like the ones I see on TV?
Dr. Frush: Yes Sparky, it is. It has lots of monitors that blink and beep, lots of equipment like IV poles and blood pressure machines, oxygen tanks, and stretchers. It's a very busy place because we have to work fast to take care of all of our patients.

Question #7: Doctors sometimes use words like: "stat," "crash cart," and "NPO." What are they talking about?
Dr. Frush: Stat means right now, right away! A crash cart is not a cart we push around to crash into things! It's a place where we keep lots of equipment that we might need in a hurry to take care of a patient. And NPO means that a patient can't have anything to eat or drink for a while.

Question #8: How many kids come into your emergency department every year?
Dr. Frush: About 15,000. That might seem like a lot, but some emergency departments see more than 75,000 kids each year! Now that's a lot of kids!

Question #9: Are kids scared when they have to go to the hospital?
Dr. Frush: Most times they are, Sparky, and I can understand why. If you've never been in an emergency department, the sights and sounds of the equipment can be scary. Besides, children are often very sick or hurt badly when they come to the hospital, so that makes it extra scary. I think it helps for kids to visit the emergency department when they're not sick or hurt so they can learn what to expect if they ever go there as a patient.

Question #10: What kinds of injuries do you see most often?
Dr. Frush: The most common minor injuries are bad cuts and scrapes, broken bones, and sprained ankles from kids playing at home or school, playing sports, and just being kids! More serious injuries are caused by car and bicycle crashes. We also see burns, drownings and poisonings.

Question #11: Are children's injuries different than adult injuries?
Dr. Frush: Yes, Sparky, and the kinds of injuries are different for kids as they grow older. The most common injuries for babies are from falls (like down the steps in a baby walker) and injuries related to car crashes. When grown-ups don't put babies in a car safety seat or when they strap them in the wrong way, babies can be hurt very badly. The most common injuries for older kids are caused by bike crashes or when they are hit by cars when they are playing or standing near a busy street.

Dr. Frush with a patient

Question #12: How can kids stay safer?
Dr. Frush: That's the best question you could ask me, because it's the most important lesson kids can learn! There are lots of things children can do to stay safer.

Always wear your safety belt in the car and ask your family members to wear theirs, too. If you have younger brothers and sisters, make sure they sit in the back seat of the car in child safety or booster seats.
Wear a helmet when riding your bike, skateboarding, or in-line skating.
Make sure there are working smoke alarms in your home (at least one on every level) and practice a home fire escape plan so everyone knows how to get out in case of fire.

There are many more safety lessons children can learn and that's why I like Risk Watch so much: it teaches children and their families how to be safe!

Question #13: What's the best part of your job?
Dr. Frush: The best part of my job is knowing that I help children feel better. Sometimes I can give them medicine to make their pain go away or medicine to make an infection go away. Sometimes I can explain to them and their parents why they have a rash or a bump and that helps them feel less scared.

Question #14: What's the worst part of your job?
Dr. Frush: The worst part is seeing children in pain. It's very sad to see a child with a serious injury that could have been prevented. For example, if a child hits his head in a bike crash and gets a brain injury, there's not much I can do to reverse that injury. A helmet can help make a big difference. So Sparky, please keep telling kids to wear their helmets every time they ride their bikes.

Question #15: If you weren't a doctor, what kind of job would you have?
Dr. Frush: I think I'd be a nurse or a physical education teacher. I was a nurse before I became a doctor, and I liked it a lot. I really like sports and physical fitness and I think it would be fun to teach children about exercise and the importance of staying in shape.

Question #16: What is your favorite food?
Dr. Frush: I know you're not going to believe this, but my favorite food is vegetables!

Question #17: Do you have a favorite TV show?
Dr. Frush: Hmmm, how about "ER"?

Dr. Frush with her son Ben,
one of her four children.

Question #18: What do you do for fun?
Dr. Frush:I love to swim, run, read, and cheer for my kids at their sports events. I have four children (two boys and two girls), so I get to cheer at a lot of games!

Question #19: Do you have any pets?
Dr. Frush: You'll be happy to know that I have four dogs! We also have three rabbits, two cats, and two guinea pigs at our house. And since we live on a farm, we hope to have some horses someday!

Question #20: Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?
Dr. Frush: I don't know. I eat an apple almost every day, but there are always plenty of doctors around me!

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