Emergency rooms across Dallas-Fort Worth are prepared for any unforeseen Fourth of July injuries.
A team of more than a dozen nurses and doctors are on staff this holiday at Medical Dallas Hospital. The hospital is seeing patients from across the Metroplex.
Lee Charlton and her 16-month-old daughter, Blythe, found themselves celebrating the Fourth of July at Medical City's emergency room.
"She slipped on a shoe and hit her head,β Charlton said. βIt's pretty typically my family ends up in the emergency room on holidays. That's something we just do.β
Blythe has a small cut but after some medication and sutures, doctors say she'll be OK.
Dr. Courtney Wilemon, an emergency physician who's been at Medical City Dallas Hospital for seven years, has worked this holiday for many years.
"If it was normal Texas July, we'd be seeing a lot of heat exhaustion, we're also planning for injuries like poolside injuries, lacerations, broken arms, broken legs," Dr. Wilemon said.
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Another child Josh Butler, 3, found himself at the hospital on the holiday after experiencing a heatstroke in a bounce house at a party. He was released after getting rehydrated.
Despite being a holiday, Medical City's emergency room is fully staffed with 13 nurses tending to patients throughout the day.
βWe are definitely well-staffed on a day like today because we don't know what to expect, but that's almost every day in the emergency room," Donna Hinschberger, a staff nurse said.
The hospital expects to admit more patients Thursday night as the Fourth of July festivities continue.