A personal testimony of Disney's First Aid system with kids.

[elainabelle]

I should have posted this over a year ago when it happened, but I never took the time. Hopefully this will make parent's with young ones going to the park feel more confident in their visit.

Our very first day of our very first trip to WDW ever, we walked into Epcot before opening to go to the Princess Storybook breakfast. During the breakfast we noticed our 4 year old was fussy and extremely irritable and was favoring her left hand. With horror we noticed she had an extremely large piece of wood jammed underneath her entire pinky nail (we still have no idea how she accomplished this). We quickly excused ourselves and were directed to the nearest first aid station. The nurse there was unbelievably nurturing and kind. She quickly realized that she would not be able to assist us and called for a shuttle to the nearest Urgent Care. A driver arrived in less than 10 minutes, loaded us up after my daughter and son were treated to a bunch of stickers. The driver even had a carseat for my 2 year old son. Within minutes we were whisked away to the Urgent care (about a 10 - 15 minute drive). We were there for about an hour as they had to remove my daughters entire fingernail. When we were done, they called for another shuttle. This time the shuttle was ready for us when we walked out the door. The kind driver took us back to All Star movies resort. Neither driver would accept a tip and there was no fee for the shuttles.

My daughter was completely out of it and drugged up. We immediately put her to bed for the rest of the day. That left us with park hopper passes minus one day for a visit that lasted all of 15 minutes. I went to to the guest service desk explained the situation and she immediately gave us all another day on our card to make up for the wasted one.

WDW definitely gets an A+ from me. I always wondered what happened if your child got hurt bad enough to warrent a trip to Urgent Care outside the park. Hopefully, no one reading this will have to take advantage of WDW's service in this area, but if you do, have confidence that you and your child will be well taken care of.

 

[zurgswife]

Glad you shared such a positive experience

 

[lindaso]

That's great that they gave you the day for the park hoppers. What an experience that must have been!!

We also had a good experience with first aid. My DS, without any warning whatsoever, threw up all over Japan. I mean everywhere!! A nice Japanese CM came over and helped us as best she could and advised us to go to first aid as we had to strip his nasty clothes off. The nice lady at first aid said she was all out of extra shirts and she wrote a voucher to the gift shop and we got to pick out a brand new shirt for him so he wouldn't have to travel back to the hotel half naked. He managed to vomit on that one too but, hey, it was free!!!!

 

[Kendra17]

We had a great experience with First Aid, as well. We were eating at Crystal Palace when my daughter inexplicably complained of a horrible pain. We went over to first aid, where she rested comfortably. The nurse on duty was kind and caring. After about 40 minutes, her pain subsided, and really, we still don't know what happened to her then. . .it never came back. The staff at CP didn't charge us for our meal, either.

When my parents took my kids to WDW, my son got dehydrated. The first aid people gave him lots of fluids and TLC. (Yeah, I was a bit angry at my parents when they told me. .. . it WAS August. ..)

 

[SueM in MN]

We've used the First Aid station in all the parks numerous times, sometimes just to use their wheelchair accessible restroom, sometimes for more serious things like DD needing to rest after a seizure. The staff at all the stations have been wonderful, very warm and caring.
While you probably never want to visit First Aid, it's nice to know they are ready and willing to serve you.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Glad to hear so many wonderful reviews. I hope that no one else has to ever go there.

 

[princessgirls]

My cousin just called me from WDW this morning to let me know her ds (6) was taken away by ambulance from MK last night. They were sitting around waiting for the Electric Parada -- ds was sitting on stool near the green phone at asto orbitor when she said he just slipped off stool....she walked over to help him up and when he moved his hand away from face it was covered in blood! A CM came over right away, as well as a very nice man who just bought a bottle of water and gave it to them to try to rinse away the blood to see where ds was injured. CM called ambulance and ds and dad (only one parent allowed in ambulance) were wisked off to hospital (mind you this all happend 10 minutes before the parade and on their first day of trip). My cousin and her dd (9) were wisked backlot until they could get an escort - but had to wait a bit because parade started and they could get out. My cousin was very impressed with how prompt disney was and is now trying to figure out what to do for the rest of their trip, since ds has over 10 stiches and major jaw swelling!! UGHHHHH.....and now the hurrican threat....hasn't been too magical for them, so I called and had a gift basket sent and the CM in floral dept was so wonderful.....she arranged for an autographed picture of goofy to be added to basket (ds favortie character).

So, now I know first hand that disney does react very quickly to help someone who is in need of medical attention and also are very concerned with helping the rest of the family/party as best as they can.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Originally posted by princessgirls
So, now I know first hand that disney does react very quickly to help someone who is in need of medical attention and also are very concerned with helping the rest of the family/party as best as they can.

They sure do. About 2 years ago, when my oldest DD was 2, she had an accident in Epcot. My family was sitting on two sets of benches with a gap in between them. When we got up, my DD put her hand down to push off but she was next to the gap. End result was her head smashing into the other bench.

I picked her up and held her. When I looked down a few seconds later the blood was flowing. Out of nowhere came a WDW security person and a golf cart with two medics! I have no idea how they got to us so quickly. The medics immediately said the gash would require stitches so we went to first aid and were shuttled to the Urgent care (there were some pretty scary people in there ). Because she had a head injury, my DD saw a doctor right away and we were back in Epcot in no time.

The CMs at WDW are the best!

 

[Mandalou]

Does anyone know if there is map that shows where all of the First Aid Stations are at each park? I'd like to get a map for my parents before they go. My Mom has diabetes and has hype-glycemia attacks daily that can be pretty severe. (Of course, that won't stop her from going to WDW!!!!) It would be nice if they knew ahead of time where these First Aid Stations were. Maybe they could plan their day around them???

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Mandalou,

The first aid stations are on the park maps.

 

[Mandalou]

Thanks, POOH&PIGLET. They'll have to make sure they pick up their map as soon as they walk through the gate.

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

My son was acting crazy in the MK one day and bent down, catching his hand under the wheel of the stroller. DH ran over it and smashed it pretty bad.

First Aid behind the Crystal Palace took very good care of him.

I also noticed while we were in there that people were coming in with headaches and getting free Tylenol. I had spent an hour the day before looking for Motrin, and paying way too much for the 2-pill pack. I vowed then and there that the next headache I had, I'd be heading to First Aid!

 

[DWhittles]

Have those of you with really good experiences with the medical staff considered writing letters of thanks?
They are so behind the scenes most folks don't ever have to see them but when you need them, they are fantastic.
My husband had a major panic attack (he's had them his whole life and when he has them it mimicks a heart attack) and he couldn't breathe and was shaking. We went to the first aid station and the nurse in there was absolutely wonderful. She was like a mother bird tending to him making sure he was comfy and everything.
I let the park know in a letter how great his care was and thanking them!
Diana