Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here. My 3-year-old son was lying on the exam table in obvious pain. He had a diffuse, raw, red rash spreading across his body. We knew something was wrong. What we didn’t know was that getting him treated properly would feel like a battle. We brought our son to Buffalo Hospital’s emergency room, expecting help. We expected the basics: that he would be examined thoroughly, that serious causes would be ruled out or treated, that we would be taken seriously as his parents. Instead, we were met with uncertainty and a plan to “observe” instead of act. The physician in charge seemed unsure from the start. He mentioned possibilities like early toxic shock syndrome, but did not order blood work, cultures or a full sepsis evaluation. He suggested Tylenol and a steroid — medications that do nothing for a bacterial toxin-mediated infection — and told us to wait. When I asked about doing labs to better understand what was happening, he dismissed the idea as “too vague.” When we said we planned to take our son to Children’s Hospital instead, he suddenly suggested calling them to discuss the case, as if it were an afterthought. We were left with the sense that he was out of his depth but unwilling to say so. So we left. We drove straight to M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. There, our son was immediately diagnosed with staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome — a serious bacterial infection requiring hospitalization and IV antibiotics. The pediatric team treated it with the urgency it deserved. Our child got better because we refused to accept a dismissive plan. But this experience has stayed with me, because it raises a bigger question: Why is it acceptable that families have to fight this hard to get competent emergency care?