Jack's Surgery Story

When a family embarks on a road trip that will rack up more than 15 hours in the car, parents are prepared for their children getting bored, hungry or cranky. What most parents would not anticipate is that their child would need an emergency surgery halfway through their journey. For Amber and her son Jack, this unexpected event became a real-life situation as they made their way from Arizona to Dallas, Texas.

Amber told out team that at “2 a.m., he woke up and said his lower right side hurt. We already went through an appendectomy with my husband so I kind of knew that if it is really sensitive, we need to get somewhere.” Thanks to her maternal instincts and quick actions, Jack arrived at the nearest hospital where they concluded he had appendicitis. “We went to Van Horn and they told us they did not have the surgical equipment to do it.”

With the next major city hours away, Amber began to worry for her son’s health and tried to figure out the safest solution. The Providence Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Specialty Transport Team jumped into action to bring Jack in for an emergency appendectomy. Amber stated the team “brought the hospital to her family” with the advanced ambulance specifically created for pediatric patients.

Michelle Holguin, the Director of the Pediatric Specialty Transport Team, shared the many benefits of transporting a patient in the uniquely qualified ambulance. “If a non-specialty team would have responded, the patient would not have received IV fluids for hydration and pre-op antibiotics preparing him for surgery on arrival to our facility, so that would have delayed his care.” Michelle added that “by providing the specialty transport team to transport this child, it allowed us the opportunity to have him already registered and admitted upon arrival, starting pre-operative care in route. His direct admission into the OR helped to provide the most expedient care for this surgical case.”

“The transport team was wonderful,” Amber praised, “Adrian was super compassionate and he was very loving to all of us. He even stayed back in pre-op to make sure we were okay.” From the 2 hour ride from Van Horn to El Paso, to his arrival and stay at Providence Children’s, Jack received high-quality care that resulted in his successful surgery and quick recovery.

“Everyone has been absolutely wonderful. They had everything ready for us. It was great and it was very stress-free.”

We are happy to give all families, whether they are native El Pasoans or visitors passing through out great city, an example of the exemplary care they will receive at Providence Children’s if their child is ever in need.

To find out more about our Pediatric Surgical services or the Pediatric Specialty Transport Team, click here or call 833-225-8751.