COVID triage machine 3000

—> You answered: IN PERSON, the patient has both symptoms AND exposure, and they need an in-person examination by a physician. Here’s what to do for the patient and other members of your family.

Plan for the patient:

  • Either perform two COVID tests at home 1 day apart or schedule a PCR swab with us in the parking lot at some point in the day at least 45 minutes before your visit time.

  • With two negative tests at home or one negative PCR with us we can see you inside the clinic for an exam. With a positive test and still needing an in-person exam we may either do a parking lot visit or have you come in the clinic as the last patient of the day, depending on the scenario.

  • Complete this form prior to your appointment time, this helps minimize exposure time at our office.

  • Isolate in the meantime per these instructions, adjusting as needed based on test results.

  • Urgent care is not necessary for our patients unless it’s after hours and your child is in distress/symptoms that otherwise require urgent attention (see “urgent attention” in FAQ below).

Does anyone else in family need testing?

  • Family members with symptoms: yes. In the event your child tests negative with us but you test positive, let us know.

  • Family members also directly exposed to index case (< 6ft for > 15 minutes) but without symptoms: yes, but testing may fall on a different day; follow the links on this page to see the timeline we would normally follow for patients in such a scenario.

  • Everyone else: NO, unless patient tests positive in which case everyone’s now exposed - follow plan at the top of this same page for any siblings with symptoms, or this page for siblings without symptoms (note the index case is now the patient who just tested positive). Parents should generally seek testing along same time frame as siblings.

Should we notify anyone?

Consider notifying any contacts of the patient that they may have been exposed and test results are pending, but if your test is coming up pretty soon you might wait for results first as quite often they’re negative.

Notes:

Patient: the person you are looking for advice or testing for (eg your child, yourself).

Index case = the contagious person who exposed your family to COVID.

Direct exposure = < 6 feet away for > 15 cumulative minutes over 24 hours or shared drink/being coughed/sneezed on.

Urgent attention needs are essentially the same with COVID as any other viral illness. If your child is in respiratory distress (labored breathing, rapid breathing, unable to speak), severe lethargy/poor responsiveness, profuse vomiting, significant dehydration/urine output reduced below every 8 hours, or an infant less than 2 months old with fever. See our webpages for help with any of these topics, such as our common cold, flu, or dehydration pages. And remember, you’re not alone - if it’s not clear on these pages whether your child’s symptoms require immediate attention simply call us or page your doctor if after hours.

“Potential Symptoms” include:

  • Fever or chills

  • Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

  • Fatigue

  • Muscle or body aches

  • Headache

  • New loss of taste or smell

  • Sore throat

  • Congestion or runny nose

  • Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

See this page for more information about COVID-19 symptoms.

Important: this page is only applicable to established patients of Trailhead Pediatrics and is not general medical advice for the public, nor are our services available to patients who are not established in our care.

Same-day appointments

For urgent needs, same-day appointments are available Monday through Friday. Please call as early in the day as possible, the more notice we have the easier it is to fit everyone in. 

Need help outside of office hours?

Firstly, if your child has an emergency, please call 911 or go directly to the ER - they will contact us if needed once your child has been evaluated.

Urgent Care centers can also be helpful when something needs to be seen outside of office hours but it's not an emergency. 

For our list of preferred Urgent Cares and ERs, see our resources page.

And if you have something that might need urgent attention but you're not sure/don't know what to do, we can help: