Welcome New Texas FAN Rep Angela Nelson!

My name is Angela Nelson and I am the parent of 3 special children (22, 20 and 14). I became a family faculty for Texas Parent to Parent in 2017 and have been involved in both individual as well as group presentations to medical students and residents as part of their MedEd Program. My interest in the MedEd Program and EMSC comes from my passion to educate and share information. There are so many resources available, but people don’t always know where to look or maybe don’t even know that they are missing something. People don’t know what they don’t know. For me personally, the challenge has been that 2 of my children have invisible disabilities. One of my son’s diagnosis’ is Adrenal Insufficiency so it has been important for me to educate those that interact with my son on what to watch for and most importantly what to do if he experiences an adrenal crisis. I have met with the chief of EMS in the communities we have lived in to get medical orders on file so they can properly treat him if they respond to our home or his school and so they have an awareness around what they are walking into when responding. We also meet annually with school administrators, medical professionals and teachers in his school. A couple of areas that I feel strongly about are:

• If I had to call EMS would they have the equipment, medication and/or orders necessary to provide emergency care to my child and other children with special health care needs
• Children with complex medical needs many times need to convey more information than will fit on a standard medical alert bracelet (if the child will even wear one). I have found that emergency personnel and physicians are not aware of the many types of medical alert bracelets and tags available today and the vast amount of information that can be provided.
• Some children and adults due to their medical diagnosis may not be able to effectively communicate with emergency personnel at the scene of an accident or upon presenting in the ED. How do we bridge that communication gap?

My goal in volunteering my time and talents is to have an impact on the emergency care that children receive both in the field and in the ED. If my interactions and sharing of our story leads one provider to understand that not all disabilities are visible and that some kids that don’t “look too sick” can be in danger of a fatal outcome if not properly treated in a timely manner there is the potential to positively impact how children are cared for now and in the future. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out at angelanlsn@yahoo.com.