Emergency Family Care Following a Child's Sudden Death

Sudden unexpected death is a traumatic event for all concerned, but it is of benefit to a family to have a family physician who knows the family, is available, and can put to use previously established rapport. Commonly, however, the family of the child and the physician at the hospital meet as strangers. Professionals in the Emergency Room or Intensive Care setting can be particularly effective in promoting positive bereavement outcomes, as effective early interventions make healthy and appropriate grief responses more likely for all family members.(1-3) Consequently, guidelines for appropriate intervention should be available, whether to the family's long-standing physician or to an unfamiliar physician meeting the family for the first time in an emergency situation.