Do you know if you are supposed to register your address with your local Emergency Services Provider when you bring your Preemie home? Some hospitals include directions on how to do this in their discharge planning, but not all tell parents if this is necessary in their area.

Information about your baby's medical needs will be entered into a computer network, and automatically pulled up if a 911 call is linked to your address. Your Emergency Services Providers might want to know before arriving at your house if your preemie (or newborn) is medically fragile, requires special monitoring, or is on oxygen .

Call your local Fire Rescue and ask if they need your baby's information. If the answer is no based on your baby's current condition, be certain to ask if they want to know if the baby has a change and is monitored or on oxygen in the future.

We were given a registration form to complete and hand deliver to our county Emergency Command Center the first time Baby Bear had home oxygen. We never thought about telling them when the oxygen was dc'd. Oops.

We later moved across state and had oxygen in the home again. We were not told to register that time around. Last weekend, at my son's birthday Fire Station tour, I found out that I should have called a county number to have our address updated in the system. Oops.

We've been oxygen free for a couple of years, but I still need to register since Clara-Bear is primarily non-verbal. This way, Emergency Rescue workers will know that there is a child in the house who will not answer when called or call out for help. (I forgot until I started writing this post - oops again.)

Registering is optional, but in case of emergency, the more information Rescue Personnel have up front, the better they can help your family.