No medical professional here, just a mom who had a similarly dehydrated 9-month old from vomitting and rushed him to an ER in Boston, MA and then watched in frustration as a number of docs tried and failed to put an IV in his arm, inside the elbow bend, where you would put an IV in an adult. It seemed crazy to me, but what does a mom know? My baby was crying and moaning as they jabbed him repeatedly until finally, someone decided to call a pediatric nurse from upstairs and she came in and put the needle in the back of his tiny hand, quickly and efficiently and he calmed down. Sounds like you did the right thing above, but as many mention above, the handoff between ambulance and hospital seems dangerously obstructed by paperwork and delays. And as for doing good deeds, remember how immensely relieved parents are when you arrive on the scene. Your job is hard but being a parent is sometimes even harder. At least you know what to do and are trained to do it. Mysteriously, that pincushion baby is now 14 years old, well hydrated, full of vim and vigor and taller than me ... and I'm fairly tall. So all's well that end's well, so far.