New author hopes to help children understand health emergencies

New author hopes to help children understand health emergencies

 

We are excited to publish Patricia Policastro’s first children’s book, Johnny’s Daddy had a Heart Attack, which illustrates how EMTs administer CPR and save people in critical health situations.

In this interview Ms. Policastro, a critical care RN, tells us how she hopes her book will help children understand and cope with an emergency in their family or anywhere.

And the best part is 10% of the profits from the book sales will go to the American Heart Association.

Why did you write the story?

I was inspired to write this story by a friend’s husband who had a heart attack when their son was a young age.  He did not receive CPR, as he didn’t lose consciousness, but he had chest pain and suddenly did not feel well.  He ended up at the hospital with stent placement.  Just thinking about their situation inspired me to try to help children in some way.  As a nurse, we are always teaching and what better than to teach about a life saving intervention.

 

Why would this story help children?  What is the purpose of the story?

If a child witnesses a similar event, hopefully they will recall what they have learned from the story and have more of an understanding of what is happening during the event, rather than not knowing and feeling scared.  The target audience is children ages 4 through 12.  My hope and the purpose is to reduce their fear and anxiety during an emergency.

What does the story accomplish?  What do you hope to accomplish?

I hope to start children learning about health and life-saving measures at an early age.  This story will introduce children to an emergency which necessitates calling “911” and how CPR intervention and an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) helps the human body.

I hope to advocate for people with heart disease by teaching children more knowledge about it and possibly, in their future, when they are older, they might want to become CPR-certified and possibly save someone someday!

How did you research information for the story?  Did you have experience in health care or working with children?  Have you had to perform CPR?

I am a registered nurse who had experience working on a step down unit for open heart surgical patients, as well as experience working on a Medical-Surgical unit, a Telemetry unit, with some Critical Care experience.  It is required to be BLS certified (Basic Life Support) which is inclusive of CPR training.  Unfortunately, I have had to apply CPR to some of my patients, and it is a stressful and emotional situation.

The only experience I had working with children, quite frankly, was at a daycare center while I was attending nursing school, but not in a nursing capacity.  However, I still felt I could relate to how they would feel and react during an emergency and wanted to try to help in some way.

How long did it take you to write the story?

I have been working on this project over several years, believe it or not.  I would work on it, then put it aside, of course, because life gets in the way at times.  One of the main barriers to finishing the book was finding an illustrator within my budget.  Once I was referred to an illustrator, the completion of this story really began to come together.

Did anyone help you or advise you?

Yes, of course!  I feel you should always seek advice or help when you need to. That is also part of being a nurse.  I approached a former coworker who now owns his own company, where he trains for BLS certification.  He willingly offered his employees’ time to help by modeling the CPR positions so I could photograph them, and I then sent the photos onto the illustrator.  The illustrator, I feel, was creative in capturing the fine details of my scene descriptions.  I also pursued an opinion from one of the interventional cardiologists I work with, who suggested that there were still some technical terms which needed to be simplified for better understanding.  But much direction and advice I attribute to my publisher, Outer Banks Publishing Group.  After recommending an illustrator, my publisher really gave me the incentive to continue with and complete my project.

Have you written any other stories?

This is my first story.  I was inspired by a friend’s health situation.  I remember I began to write the story line when I was on the beach during vacation.  It actually didn’t take me long to write it, but every time I had reviewed it, I felt the need to edit it.  This occurred many, many times.  I didn’t realize how difficult it is to get it just right with words children would be able to comprehend and a story line they could understand.  You sort of have to put yourself in their mindset.

Will you write another story for children?

Yes, I would like to.  I actually have several other story lines in mind, similar to this one whereby teaching children about other health emergencies a family member could experience or other health conditions people might have, but I would first like to see how this story, Johnny’s Daddy Had a Heart Attack, is perceived and accepted.

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Johnny’s Daddy had a Heart Attack
By Patricia Policastro