Family Safety - Protect Your Child's Health - Free Parental Authorization Form - June 2007

What will happen if your child needs medical treatment while you are away?

When you ask a relative, friend, or babysitter to care for your child, you usually leave a telephone number where you can be reached in an emergency.

Despite careful planning, there are times when a caregiver may have trouble contacting you. Perhaps your child is off at camp, or on an overnight school trip, or visiting relatives in another state.

In these situations, if your child suffered a serious injury or illness, you probably want the caregiver to get your child to a doctor or hospital right away.

However, the health care provider will not be able to help your child, except in a life-threatening emergency. Instead, a doctor must still get permission from a parent or legal guardian, to provide the medical treatment to a minor.

When you know that you could be difficult to reach, there is a way that you can spare your child from hours -- or days -- of unnecessary pain and suffering. You can authorize an adult caregiver to act for you to protect your child.

Click here to download a legal authorization form, which enables you to appoint an adult to be responsible for medical care for your child in your absence.

Be sure to fill out this form carefully and have your signature witnessed. Explain the importance of the form to the caregiver.

No one can protect a child from every possible accident or illness.  But you can do the next best thing, by ensuring that your child has quickest possible access to medical care.