H1N1 Consent Form Scheduling Guidelines before calling the office

Our mission is to safeguard our patients, their families and our staff at all times, especially during a flu outbreak. To keep you well informed and to prevent the spread and seriousness of infection, we have listed below several resources to get you to additional information quickly.  

Because of the current flu outbreak, it may take some time for your doctor or the Call Center at Children’s to call you back. Children’s Health Care of Atlanta has developed, and your doctor has endorsed, a telephone protocol that will help you decide what you need to do for your child. It consists of a set of questions that you will answer by pushing 1 or 2 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to try this before speaking to your doctor or the Call Center please call 404-785-0000. You are always free to call back if you feel you need further information. 

The CDC has determined that the new H1N1 virus is contagious and is spreading from person-to-person, much like seasonal flu. The symptoms of this new H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of the seasonal flu and include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, headache, body aches, fatigue, and some report diarrhea and vomiting. Many people with this flu virus are able to recover at home without treatment. If your child has flu-like symptoms, please keep him or her at home for at least 24 hours after his/her fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (His/Her fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine.)

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners* are also effective. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick and sharing a common space with other household members in your home, wear a facemask, if available and tolerable, to help prevent spreading the virus to others.

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish or gray skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough