Do they take blood pressure in the first aid centers? And sharps containers?

[erika412]

I have two questions. First, my two year old daughter has been on blood pressure medication for almost a year due to kidney failure. Right now she's ready for some of it to be weaned, but we take her blood pressure daily after each weaning. My sister is a nurse, lives 4 blocks away and we carpool our older kids so it is very convenient.

I'm a little nervous about weaning some meds and then going to WDW without regular blood pressures. Do they take them in the First Aid centers for anyone?

Also, I have to give her a weekly shot. Are there sharps containers anywhere on property?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I will answer this in several parts.

To the best of my knowledge the First Aid nurses will not do any "routine" nursing in the parks; they are there for urgent needs. They, of course, have blood pressure equipment at the locations, but they probably are not permitted by Disney policy to do this or to let you use their equipment.

You can get a sharps container from Mousekeeping at your resort. Or, if the shot(s) have to be administered while at a park the nurses will provide you a private area for giving the shot and will provide alcohol swabs and sharps containers.

And have you ever thought of getting your own blood pressure meter. I bought an automatic machine for about $40 at Costco from Microlife which came with two cuffs, a standard and a large one. It will automatically take the readings, and then display systolic, diastolic and pulse. One very interesting feature is a switch (which I always have on) is it will take three consecutive readings and then display an average, which I understand gives better accuracy. And I spent an additional $25 (to the manufacturer) for a cable and software which allows my computer to read the machine's memory into a program and then display and print the data both graphically and as a chart.

 

[erika412]

Thanks for the info!

We had at first discusssed the automatic bp machines with the doctors at the hospital. They didn't like them for children as young as her because they aren't very reliable. I was taught how to do it, but she is very hard to hear which is why my sister started doing it and has regularly since January. The NP at the nephrologist's office said we would be ok not having it done while at WDW, my question was my peace of mind really. Thanks! (We've traveled before and not had it read for about 10 days, but it wasn't near a med change hence my concern.)

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the info!

We had at first discusssed the automatic bp machines with the doctors at the hospital. They didn't like them for children as young as her because they aren't very reliable. I was taught how to do it, but she is very hard to hear which is why my sister started doing it and has regularly since January. The NP at the nephrologist's office said we would be ok not having it done while at WDW, my question was my peace of mind really. Thanks! (We've traveled before and not had it read for about 10 days, but it wasn't near a med change hence my concern.)

I am an RN and would agree that an adult size blood pressure cuff will not give you an accurate reading for a child - a 2 yr old may even need an infant size cuff, which is even smaller than a child size cuff.
First Aid may be able to do a blood pressure for an adult, but probably not for a 2 yr old.

 

[erika412]

She actually recently grew out of the infant cuff and is now in a child's. Thanks Sue. I might just bring along my sister's stethoscope and the cuff so if I start to worry, I can try to take it myself. And honestly, if I'm really worried, I would escalate it anyway.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I was going to say, work with your sister and practice before you go, that way at least you have a somewhat reliable reading and know whether it needs to be double checked or not. See if your sister has an adult size cuff and practice on each other, then only check your DD's when you need to anyway.

 

[smithgary]

I have two questions. First, my two year old daughter has been on blood pressure medication for almost a year due to kidney failure. Right now she's ready for some of it to be weaned, but we take her blood pressure daily after each weaning. My sister is a nurse, lives 4 blocks away and we carpool our older kids so it is very convenient.

I'm a little nervous about weaning some meds and then going to WDW without regular blood pressures. Do they take them in the First Aid centers for anyone?

Also, I have to give her a weekly shot. Are there sharps containers anywhere on property?

Hi dude,

Still your daughter has problem, is she suffering from this trouble??
I think u should check out with proper doctor 3 -5 times in a week, may be they can solve this problem, God Bless You and your child..

 

[erika412]

I was going to say, work with your sister and practice before you go, that way at least you have a somewhat reliable reading and know whether it needs to be double checked or not. See if your sister has an adult size cuff and practice on each other, then only check your DD's when you need to anyway.

Thanks Nicole. That's a good idea.

Hi dude,

Still your daughter has problem, is she suffering from this trouble??
I think u should check out with proper doctor 3 -5 times in a week, may be they can solve this problem, God Bless You and your child..

Um, thanks? We've been under the care of a team of the best child nephrologists in the country since this started. Her recovery, while not guaranteed, is a long process. I'm not sure if your response was genuine or if I should not be feeding you right now...

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi dude,

Still your daughter has problem, is she suffering from this trouble??
I think u should check out with proper doctor 3 -5 times in a week, may be they can solve this problem, God Bless You and your child..

She has made it clear in her previous posts in this thread that her daughter is under the care of doctors.
A nephrologist is a doctor who specializes in care of patients with kidney disease. An NP is a Nurse Practitioner. High blood pressure and kidney disease often go together.

Weaning from medication means slowly decreasing the dose of medication. From what she posted, the doctors have weaned the medication in the past and after weaning, the family normally checked the blood pressure often to make sure it is OK. The doctors are planning that the medication will be ready to weaned again before the child's family goes to Disney World.
The mother was told (by the NP) that it would be OK to not check the child's blood pressure while at Disney World. The mother was asking whether anyone would be able to check it for them at Disney World. The doctor's office did not feel this was needed, but the mom thought she might be more comfortable.

 

[erika412]

Thank you Sue.

 

[SueM in MN]

Since the OP's question was answered, I am closing this thread.