When your child or teen gets hurt while playing and won’t stop crying, or if they’re in bed ill with a high fever, it is often difficult to know if you should bring them to their pediatrician, an emergency room, or if this is something that will pass with a some home-care measures and rest. Kids often get sick or injured during holiday times or in off-hours when doctors offices are closed. Emergency care services in Switzerland are increasingly under pressure, especially at this time of the year when patients are brought in with respiratory illnesses and other conditions that may not always require emergency or hospital care. The following two services may help parents make the right choice for their child’s specific situation and thus relieve the burden on children’s hospital emergency departments.

“Mein Kind ist krank: was tun?”

The health departments of the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft have created a campaign entitled “Mein Kind ist krank — was tun?” (My child is sick — what should I do?) that aims to provide good support to parents of sick children and relieve the burden on the healthcare system by offering videos and written information. All audio (and written) content is available in 16 languages (including English) ​​and answers the most important questions, such as:

• Where can you get help? The site lists various centers available for sick children in Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. The materials help parents to choose the right place to go when their child is ill, and at the same time support specialists in providing advice. includes pharmacies as an additional point of contact because they are easy to access and can provide parents with low-threshold advice on questions and concerns about their children’s health and whether a consultation at a doctor’s office may be warranted. You can also call the parent counselling service where advisors are medically trained and speak various languages. The telephone numbers and addresses of the parent counselling service can be found at https://meinkindistkrank.ch/anlaufstellen/.
• What should you do if your child has a fever or cough? Here you will find tips on what to do if your child has a fever or cough, as well as the situation in which you should consult a doctor.
• What can you do with a sick child if you need to work? The information provided informs on how to deal with illness in daycare centers and schools and with rights at work. The material also lists possible contact points for childcare and thus relieves the burden on parents. 

The campaign offers parents practical tools, and a flyer summarizes the essentials in simple language and uses QR codes to link to a website with additional content. To read or listen to the audio recordings on all of these topics in English, go to https://meinkindistkrank.ch/informationen/englisch/. For other languages, go to https://meinkindistkrank.ch/informationen/ and select your language of choice.

Kids Line — Telephone Help for Parents

Another option available to parents is the “Kids Line,” operated by the Swiss telemedicine provider Medgate in cooperation with 13 hospitals and medical centers in Switzerland, including Basel’s Children’s University Hospital. The Kids Line offers quick and uncomplicated expert medical advice around the clock (365 days a year) to concerned parents, serving as a point of contact for illnesses or accidents outside of their pediatrician’s office hours. The service operates via the landline telephone number 058-387-7882, and treatments can be billed through basic insurance or, depending on the insurance and plan, are even completely free.

By expertly assessing emergencies and non-urgent medical concerns, the Medgate team significantly relieves the burden on children’s hospital emergency departments. Of the around 65,000 calls received annually, approximately 55% of all calls can be resolved completely by phone or video, and 20% are referred to an in-person healthcare provider (pediatrician, specialist). Only 25% actually require a visit to an emergency department. For more information, see https://www.ukbb.ch/ueber-das-ukbb/mitteilungen/noch-mehr-entlastung-fuer-den-ukbb-notfall-medgate-kids-line-ist-keine-kostenpflichtige-0900er-nummer-mehr.

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