To Think People Should Put a Mask On if Coughing in the Hospital ER(A&E)?

[iscream]

I was at the ER (A&E) Thursday night, in the Triage waiting room. There is a sign in the room saying if you have a cough, or have had a fever in the last 24 hours, to put on a mask. There is a table underneath the sign with a box of masks, sanitizer and tissues. They also have a taped message played repeatedly, only about 10 sentences and they state the same as the sign, plus add if you have a cough or fever, please distance yourself 3 metres away from other patients.
A man came in with a little boy about 4 years old, who was flushed and looked feverish to me, and coughing, and sat down beside me. Oh course, I didn't whisk out a thermometer and take the boys temp, but he sure looked feverish, and he was coughing.

I waited a couple of minutes, until he heard the message twice, then said to the man, "Excuse me, there are masks over there if he has a cough". He said "Oh, that's ok, thanks" and didn't get a mask. Right then I was called in, so I didn't have to sit there. I had been about to move across the room to sit. After the nurse was finished with me, I mentioned to her about them. Later on I saw them walking and the little boy had a mask on.
So, I was wondering, was I being fussy telling the nurse?

And I know nobody really knows what others are thinking, but what was he thinking? I don't know why he didn't put a mask on the child when the sign and taped message instructed people coughing to do so.

I've never seen a box of masks in NHS waiting rooms etc?

That's odd, a good idea mind but I've never seen any so never thought of it. I would cough into a tissue maybe but I don't think I would put on a mask due to occasional panic attacks and feelings of claustrophobia and also not knowing who has touched the masks anyway

Kayano, I am in Canada, and I think since the SARS outbreak we have had masks in waiting rooms.

He probably didn't put it on because-

1 - he'd feel like a twat
2 - he had other things to think about
3 - he didn't want to stress his DC out and make them more uncomforable than they were already
4 - he thought it was an overzealous rule, especially in a hospital when there's evil germs everywhere, and if anyone caught anything it wouldn't be from him and his DC.

These rules probably sound fine when whoever's paid shedloads to think them up thinks them up, but in the real world they're ineffective.

Hope you're OK with whatherver you went in with though.

If they are there and common knowledge/ clearly visible then they should be worn

Eeeeee honestly I am torn on this one because I would seriously hate having one on myself iyswim....

[selfish]

Agent, I am fine, thanks for asking. I have an eye abrasion and went in for acute pain, as my eye doctor's office was closed, and he instructed me to go to the ER if the acute pain returned. I have a contact lense "patch" on my eye, to protect it as it heals, and have not had the stabbing pain in 2 weeks, until last night. There didn't seem to be anything causing it, although I did find a fine cat hair underneath my eyelashes this morning, and wondered if it could cause severe stabbing pain. I flushed my eye a lot, but perhaps it was hiding around the back?

I think we have had the masks since we had a SARS outbreak a few years ago. I didn't know all hospitals didn't do it.

Maybe he didn't know that it was a requirement if someone is coughing. If I didn't know and someone said there's a mask, I would think they were bonkers. I always try to cough into my shirt or kleenex anyways.

If, however, the medical personnel had said that it was a requirement for all coughing patients to wear a mask, then I would have no problem.

There is a large sign, and it is announced every minute or so over the loudspeaker. I imagine people may ignore it if they have asthma/allergies and know they are not contagious.
Aha! I just found out (thanks Google) that our hospital is part of a a comprehensive mask (N95) fit testing program. Perhaps that is why they are strict about masks.

every minute over loudspeaker?!

Really? That would do my nut in and I would
Never go lol

Well, let's be honest, he probably wasn't listening to the public announcements or took a look at the sign if he was focused and frantic about his child. I wouldn't be. I would've been more worried about when the doctors would see my child than whatever was being announced when I just arrived, tried to talk to the attending nurse, and settling him.

Give the guy a break. Put yourself in his shoes for a minute, will you?

If you were that concern, why didn't you mention it to the nurse immediately when your name was called instead of waiting until your exam was completed?

The hospital here hands patients a mask as they enter and are signed in if they show any signs of infectious disease. It's not optional to wear it if the triage nurse hands you one.

I wish we had a rule like this here

Had to take DD to A&E on Tue. 3 hours sat in the childrens waiting room with 6 other parents and 5 other children, 2 of which (aged about 3 and 2) were coughing (that horrible wet croupy cough) and drowning in snot the whole time. Plus picking things (toys, books) up and putting them in their mouths.

DD has now got a bloody awful cough, that kept her awake most of Thu and Fri night, which on top of the reason we went in for, is making her bloody miserable . She's curled up with me now, leaking snot everywhere and feeling very very sorry for herself.

OK I don't know for sure she caught this off those kids, but the possibility is making me very unreasonable...

To be fair, what the child has might not be contagious either and the dad may well know it and the mask may inhibit breathing problems for the child. Not putting a hand over the mouth when coughing at any time or age over the age of 2 yrs old or so is inexcusable.

If it's the rule and clearly stated, and someone who is not observing that rule is giving additional concern those who it is designed to protect, then this is a matter for staff intervention. I think you should have told one of the nurses, and left it to them to ensure compliance.

If there are indeed medical reasons why the child cannot wear a mask to protect others, then the staff need to arrange separate waiting.

What they should not do is let a sign be ignored - unless they want every sign in the hospital ignored. If they do not want this rule in force, the sign should be removed.

I wouldnt have used a mask, everytime Ds has been in he has had a cough of some sort. He also hates anything over his mouth and nose (have had many a battle just to get him to have nebulisers, keep oxygen specs on) to try to make him wear a mask like that would have made him hysterically distressed and made his condition even worse.

I can see both sides of this. My DD would love to wear a mask if she were not coughing. If she was it would distress her too much.
Simply holding your hand in front of your mouth and nose should be sufficient, especially if you catch your cough/sneeze in a tissue then bin it.
The announcement every minute would have driven me bonkers too.

mynewpassion I only pointed it out to him, and was just about to get up and sit away from them, but I was called in.

I was more concerned with getting my eye treated. The next time I saw the child, he was wearing a mask. I am sure it was not because I mentioned it, but because the nurse decided after assessing him.

suppose if someone is claustrophobic, or frightened, or their breathing is hindered, then that is for the hospital staff to deal with, in a hopefully sympathetic manner. If their breathing was hindered, I hope that they would get rushed through. That is also part of the announcement, now that I think of it. Chest pain, symptoms of stroke or shortness of breast patients are to go straight up to the nurse regardless of what number their ticket is.

My mom has claustrophobia, she'd hold the mask up to her face when coughing I imagine. No way could she willingly wear a mask attached by an elastic to her face.

I think it is a good idea to have people wear them until they have been seen by a doctor.

So funny..people complaingin about having to be near sick people in an A+E..just wow.

Have you ever tried putting a face mask on a 4 year old and making them sit still for several hours? Personally I wouldn't like to try that.

Since I last posted DD has coughed so hard she puked. All over her, all over me, but more importantly all over her wound that the doc told us to keep dry.

Grrrrrrrrrr...I get that kids get colds, I get that it's hard to explain to toddlers about coughing and hands etc. But grrrrrrrrrr, now I need to decide if I should return DD to A&E to get her wound seen to again.

(seriously now, what do people think? Would vomit infect a wound that has been glued and butterfly stitched? I've cleaned it off but now the steri-strips are wet and falling off)

Exactly robin.

Not at being near them, at him coughing, sitting in the chair beside me. If I had a cough, I would sit 3 metres away from others like the signs and announcements instruct. And I'd wear a mask. The triage waiting room had only 3 other people, (including myself) and there were a lot of spots he could have sat with his little boy that would be not so close to people.

It is the blatant disregard for anyone other than themself that bothers me.

If I saw a child struggle and cry, upset at the mask, I would feel sorry for them, and in that case simply sitting away from others would be adequate. I am a kind and understanding person, not a torturer of ill people with fears. He didn't even attempt, and the nurse did put a mask on the child, so in this case, it was probably not a non contagious illness. Or at least, had not yet been determined by a doctor who would be qualified to decide.

LtEveDallas, not sure about the vomit on the wound, maybe call someone qualified and ask?

Well, apparently the vomit itself should not cause a problem, but the cleaning up, unless I put on gloves/washed hands first (which I didn't ) could. So hey ho, it's off to the WIC we go (which is probably where those 2 kids should have been, not A&E)

DD distraught, plans cancelled, and God knows how long we will be.

grrrrr...

Here in Hong Kong they have been very big on masks when you have respiratory diseases since SARS but it's very difficult to get small children to keep them on. My sister is a language teacher and says that under 4, it's impossible, 4-6 it's hit and miss and above that age, compliance is pretty good.

The chances of being able to find 3m of free space in an NHS A&E dept is laughable. You'd usually struggle to put 30cm between you and others...

I don't think the masks are a terrible idea (I hate sitting in waiting rooms attempting not to breathe because people are coughing and spluttering all around me) but I can see that it would be difficult to keep one on a child.

If people had that much of a problem they could always have moved. I doubt the worried parents first concerns where for others in there tbf

Perhaps he hadn't seen the sign or mabe he couldn't read. Why assume that him not putting a mask on the child straightaway was a deliberate decision? After all he thanked you when you pointed it out and did put a mask on his child.

Many people you will hear coughing in hospitals will not be infectious. I have lung damage that causes me to cough. If I go to clinic with others with similar issues some of the coughs people have sound dreadful - but they are not infectious.