To think drunk teen shouldn't be in paeds A&E?

[Us3r21422]

NC for this in case picked up by the likes the of Daily Fail etc.

Took DD to paeds A&E last night due to concerns about dehydration after 5 days of gastro bug and decreasing tolerance for fluids and no wet nappy for 12 hours. Luckily she is OK and we were allowed home after some anti sickness meant she could tolerate water, but the place was full of really sick babies and toddlers. Dr said 4 cases of D&V/dehydration, plus a query sepsis child, croup etc.

I heard someone approach the nurses station and say they were bringing a drunk 15 year old and his parents round from adult A&E, no particular reason given, so assume this was purely based on his age. He did say dad was struggling to manage said drunk teen.

At this point I knew we were going home, so no real skin in the game, but I thought to myself that if the teen was that drunk, was paeds A&E really the place to bring him when he would have received presumably the same medical care in adult A&E?

As I say, no big deal to me as we were leaving, but I'm not sure I'd have been happy with a drunk/loud/aggressive/silly teen in the cubicle next to us. More so for the other parents and children who were really very very poorly and had clearly been there a long time, were very tired, waiting for a bed on the ward etc.

So - aibu to think drunk teen probably should have stayed in adult A&E and that it's not really desirable for a 15 year old who's had a few too many to be in the same (very small) department as lots of really unwell younger children?

The other thing you may not be aware of is that some babies and toddlers go in for non-accidental reasons, and my teen daughter has seen parents removed by security/social services put foster parents in place.

Paed wards see all life. A possibly alcohol poisoned teen (who might be having other MH issues, who knows) won't be something they've never experienced before.

When my daughter was 18 months old she ended up in resus, which was divided into two sections, adults and children.

She was placed in the bed next to the nurses station and I could quite clearly see the computer screen that told me the name and age of the person in every bay in A+E, resus, majors and minors, plus the reason they were there.

16 people in at 8am, my daughter plus a suspected heart attack were the only ones that didn't say drug/alcohol abuse.

Doctors never told me anything, my own eyes told me.

Of course she should be in A&E with those symptoms regardless of the cause.

A 15 yr old is still a child. Requires protection and you have no idea of the adults that were in A&E. sure, getting drunk is usually an "adult" affliction but this child needed help.

The concern was dehydration. Don't be giving advice on a potentially serious situation if you don't understand.

Due to the nature of A&E (magic paper curtains, computers facing resus beds etc) and the fact it’s normally rammed at the moment with everyone in close quarters you are going to come across patient info or hear things that were meant to be confidential. Going home to share that info on a public forum doesn’t seem like a fair move. You’ll say that there are no patient identifiers but I bet if the parent was on mumsnet they could deduce it was their kid.

A 15 year old is a CHILD and therefore should be treated in the children's section of the hospital.

Thankfully admission to the paeds dept is decided on by age, not by someone's petty judgment about how a patient ended up there.

Well, let’s be thankful not everyone is so judgmental. Many/most people, including children, will be in A&E because of their own stupidity- falling off things, into things, not paying attention to this or that, etc.

A 15 year old is a child, regardless of whether they’re in A&E because of their own poor decision making. I would generally be annoyed that A&E is clogged up with drunk people wasting valuable NHS resources, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, regardless of age, though. It’s a triage system based on who is most seriously ill or injured; the relative virtue or otherwise of the person and how they came to be injured doesn’t factor.

Dear god some people just seem t come on to Mumsnet to upset people. How many of the bitchy comments would you actually say to people if you were face to face with them. The op asked for opinions and people say she made the whole thing up. My opinion leans towards if a lot of babies and toddlers in paed a and e, 15 year old should stay in adult section but I wasn't there. I wouldn't be commenting on that but would just ask for a bit less hostility on Mumsnet.

Maybe the kid was roofied

My Dd has been in paeds multiple times with Anorexia, overdoses and yes intoxication( which can be v dangerous). The staff have always been amazing and made us feel very welcome every time. They are highly trained to deal with teens and have seen it all every day as have we when staying in there. The teenage years can be an absolute nightmare for some families. Teens are still children and deserve to be reserved in the rightful place. A bit of empathy wouldn’t go amiss, you will be there one day.

What a strange comment. I think the vast majority of childhood/teenage injuries are because of their “stupidity” as children are generally speaking poor decision makers. You’re going to make a fantastic parent once you finally figure that one out! Till then good luck trying to get a 100% not stupid decision making teenager.

Why Mammajay?

Babies and toddlers have no more right to be there than teens.

Right?! Arguably playing rugby or skiing is just as stupid given the injury rates. Are those kids allowed in A&E?

Why were you privy to this ?

Should you really take your kid to A&E with a D&V bug?

As others have said OP, once your baby is 15, you'll have a very different view of whether they should be in an adult ward or not.

I’m torn about this. Part of me thinks ‘play adult games, get adult prizes’ and that they shouldn’t be around young vulnerable toddlers and babies. But then again rules are rules and they are under 16 so it’s not really justifiable to send them to adult A and E. Plus none of us have any idea what actually happened so it’s difficult to judge.

I work with some very vulnerable kids, aged 11-18. A lot of them are very much still children and so it would be absolutely appropriate to treat them in a ward with other children. I’m sure medical staff see all sorts in A&E but I am also reassured that most medical staff would not judge a child who - for reasons unknown- has become intoxicated and ill. It’s unusual to hear of numerous medical staff passing judgment about a sick child in front of numerous patients but that’s a shame if it happened that way.

Certainly, the children I work with have never been judged in this way. Hope your wee one and the little boy who was also ill are both much better.

This. And let’s not forget the amount of kids there due to having accidents/injuries that could have been prevented if parents/carers were watching them better or made better/different decisions. Do people feel pissed off at these parents and their ‘stupidity’? Of course we just accept that people aren’t perfect. I’d hope we do. And if the worst your kid dies as a teen us have a bit too much to drink, you’ll be doing ok.

He’s a child, therefore he’s in the children’s section. It’s very simple.

What age is your child? I'm assuming very little.

Wait until your child is 15 and I wonder what your response would be then?

Lots of mistakes in last bit...it should say, Of course NOT, we just accept that people aren’t perfect. I’d hope we do. And if the worst your kid DOES as a teen is have a bit too much to drink, you’ll be doing ok.

goimg to a&e for severe vomiting or diarrhea is absolutely the last thing most people want to do. When they end up there it is because they have become severely dehydrated. Believe me i never loved showing up with my bucket while vomiting coffee grounds while pregnant.

A 15 yr old is a paed case irrespective of what it is in for .

It's a fair point, Moraxella. What I would say to that Mum is that I had a fleeting pondering in that moment, was mulling it over this morning and wondered what other people thought. I don't judge her son for getting drunk. We've all done it as teenagers, I know I did and it's more by luck than judgement that I didn't end up in the same situation. I hope her DS is recovered and that it must have been very scary for her. However, as an adult who previously had a very small child, she might agree that in an ideal world, there would be separate provisions within paeds for babies/toddlers and older children. It is possible to think that and not be a completely judgemental arsehole. However, we don't live in an ideal world, we have what we have and I've learnt a lot from this thread on why/how things are done the way they are. So although I may have come across as terribly insensitive and judgy, I don't mind what people think because I've learnt something. And that's the great thing about MN. You can become a better person and a better parent through the collective experience of others.

Then again, she might not agree and just think I'm an idiot 🤷‍♀️