Preparing Your Child for Anesthesia 

If your child needs anesthesia for surgery or a procedure, they will be evaluated by the anesthesia team before the procedure. This will occur in person at a separate Anesthesia Resource Center (ARC) appointment if your child’s history or complexity of the surgery requires it. All other anesthesia evaluations will be done by phone. To help us communicate, please be certain you have a MyCHOP account, and you are allowing use of text messages.

Please note, if your child sees any specialists like a cardiologist, endocrinologist, pulmonologist, or hematologist, and is due for a follow-up appointment before the procedure, please see that specialist before the day of the anesthesia visit or phone call. 

Anesthesia Visit

If your child requires an ARC appointment, a member of the ARC will contact you to schedule it. They will work with you to make the appointment as convenient for you and your child as possible. The ARC has 3 locations: 12th floor of the Buerger Building, King of Prussia Specialty Care Center and CHOP Specialty Care Virtua

Your child must be present for this appointment. A parent or guardian must be present at the time of the visit. 

What can I expect during the Anesthesia Visit?

• The advance practice provider (APP) will ask questions about your child’s health and medical history, allergies, medications and significant family medical history. Please bring all medication your child is taking to the visit in their original container.

• The advance practice provider will examine your child.

• We will review important pre-procedure information and instructions about eating and drinking before anesthesia. We will review what medications your child should and should not take prior to and the day of the procedure.

• If your child needs blood tests before the procedure, they will be done after your ARC visit. 

Please note: 

The ARC visit does not require a referral or co-pay. It does not create a separate charge to your insurance company. 

If you need to change or cancel your ARC visit, please call 267 425 4650. The ARC administrative team will help you to reschedule the visit. 

Anesthesia Phone Call

For children who do not need to have an ARC visit, we will begin the pre anesthesia evaluation by phone. We need to have a current phone number. Your phone number can be updated in MyCHOP or by contacting the service that has scheduled your child’s procedure.

By opting into receiving text messages, you may receive a text offering you to schedule this phone call. We offer this to allow you to choose the time to complete this phone call when it is convenient for you. This message will be sent out beginning 6 weeks before your scheduled procedure. If your child has been seen in the ARC or called by an ARC team member for a procedure in the recent past, you are unlikely to get this message. That same ARC clinician will seek to reach you by phone.

An advance practitioner provider, or registered nurse will call you for the anesthesia phone call. This will occur up to 2 weeks before your child’s scheduled procedure date or as late as the day before the scheduled procedure. 

If we leave a message for you, please listen to the entire message, and promptly return the call to the number provided.

What can I expect during the phone call?

• We will call you between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM. This may occur on a weekend.

• We will ask questions about your child’s health and medical history, allergies, and medicines and family medical history.

• Please have a list of your child’s medicines available when we call.

• We will review important pre-procedure information and instructions about eating and drinking before anesthesia. We will review what medications your child should and should not take prior to and the day of the procedure

• We will review if your child needs blood tests before the procedure.

How will I know when to arrive for the procedure?

• The schedule for all procedures is made 24 hours in advance. If your child is having a procedure on a Monday, that schedule is made the Friday before.

• We will not know your arrival time when we meet with you for your ARC visit or during an anesthesia phone call.

• If you have agreed to text messages, you will get your first message at 9am the business day before your procedure. Later that day you will get the time to arrive for the procedure. If you have a concern about your child’s arrival time, please call your surgeon’s office or the provider requesting the procedure.

• Your arrival time is not the procedure start time. We have you arrive 2-3 hours before the procedure to make sure your child is ready and safe for the procedure.

Reviewed January 2024 by Leslie Obermeier, PPCNP-BC, NEA-BC