Sarah Moore 2025, BSN, RN

It's not every day that you realize you are standing in the gap between life and death--- but on this particular day, that's exactly what Sarah found herself doing. After finishing her shift and walking to her car, Sarah noticed a woman wandering alone in the parking lot, carrying what appeared to be a baby in a car seat. The woman was quite far away, but Sarah's gut instinct told her something was wrong. Instead of heading to her car, Sarah approached the woman to offer help. The mother explained that she was trying to find the pediatric emergency room because her pediatrician had sent her there to have her child evaluated for autism. This explanation struck Sarah as unusual, and her intuition warned her there was more to the store. Rather than simply directing the mother to the emergency room, Sarah offered to personally help her get there. When Sara glanced into the infant car seat, her heart sank---inside was not a baby, but a fragile, emaciated child in need of immediate medical attention.

Sara engaged the mother in conversation, taking care to ensure she wouldn't leave before help arrived. At this time, she learned about the significant struggles the mother and her children had been going through over the past two years. Sarah discreetly called security, asking for an escort to the emergency room, while ensuring the mother and child were safe. Once the family was safe, Sarah called the emergency room charge nurse to relay what she had witnessed, ensuring the child would receive immediate and skilled medical care from our teams and external resources.