OK - Quick survey: A&E/ambulance use

[roisin]

Q1: How old are your kids?
Q2a: How many times have you called an ambulance for them?
Q2b: What was the diagnosis?
Q3a: How many times have you been to A&E with kids?
Q3b: What was the diagnosis?

1. 7 & 7

2.a. once 2.b. eating superglue - I panicked 3.a. thrice 3.b. stone up nose, penis wound and dehydration respectively

DH tells lots of tales of people ringing 999 for the most ridiculous reasons.

scummymummy - at the risk of being really offensive - care to elaborate on 'penis wound'?

son climbed out of travel cot (he was around 2) when we were staying at his nana's and caught his penis in the foldy bit. Ouch ouch ouch. Was just a little cut really but he was v distressed and we weren't sure what to do- whether to treat it like any other area of the body or what. So we zoomed to a & e- it was about 5am and we were seen quickly. They were ever so nice to us all.

Shocking stories heard: Ambulance called for:
toothache (quite common), nosebleed, all sorts of clearly non-life-threatening injuries by people who don't want to pay for a taxi ...

My bro gets very cross about people who come to A&E, usually in the middle of the night, about a niggling complaint which has been rumbling for weeks if not months, and they haven't got round to seeing the GP about.

Actually my solution for the financial crisis in the NHS is for everyone to spend 2 yrs living with medical students, and be sis of a medic
I never go near a doctor unless I'm convinced I'm dying ... and then I can usually persuade myself it's too late anyway and isn't worth bothering

scummymummy (btw i've always read it as scrummy until typing it) - poor little fella. pardon me for being so nosey

no problem, amber!

1. 11, 8, 4, 2
2. never
3. once with 8yo
4. nothing really ?? child asthma but never had any other symptoms thereafter.

(was sent by drop in clinic as she had had breathing dificulties and was very young - 15mo)

Why the questions?

1. 4 and 2
2. Never, but have been told that I should have - ds had an allergic reaction, eyes swollen, by the time I drove him to A&E his lips and tongue were swelling and he couldn't breathe very well.

3 a) a few times - ds used to excel at getting very ill on a friday evening, and there is no GP out-of-hours service. b) allergic reaction (see above), chicken pox, tonsillitus a couple of times, a ?broken wrist which X-rayed as OK, infected toe (sounds silly but he was 10 weeks old and ended up under observation overnight). Can I redeem myself and say that we phoned NHS direct each time, and each time they sent us off to A&E.

1: 4.5 and 2.10
2: never
3: twice with DS2 - at 1 year and 2.8. Suspected broken fingers due to door slammimg incident by DS1 and broken foot due to bouncy castle incident....

the thought that I would ever have to call an ambulance for either of them makes me feel sick....

Q1: How old are your kids? 5& 2

Q2a: How many times have you called an ambulance for them? Never

Q2b: What was the diagnosis? n/a

Q3a: How many times have you been to A&E with kids? 4, 3 times for ds 1 & once with ds2

Q3b: What was the diagnosis? Ds1: dislocated elbow twice and a head injury (also seen by minor injuries once for a larceration to the head which required gluing). DS2: fell down the stairs not long after his heart op, just wanted to make sure he was ok.

1. 8 and 7
2. never
3. n/a
4. 2x
5. both times with ds2. first time broken tibia (leg). second broken wrist.

Q1: 2.5
Q2a: Once
Q2b: NAD following a bump on the head and being unwakeably drowsy for a bit
Q3a: No other times
Q3b: n/a

You would all be scared if I answered any of your questions with regards to my family. I would be scared myself if I saw it in writing[:(].....so I won't.

I can safely say tho that I have never wasted their times, nor would I!

here in Aus

1. almost 4 and 19 months

1. dd1 - once dd2 - not yet

1. respiratory distress caused by bad bout of croup

1. 3/4 times - bad bouts of croup each time

However as dd1 had a serious heart defect and special needs and our hospital is a two site situation - a and E at one end, paed wards at the other - we had a special card that meant we could call to and go straight to the ward rather than going to A and E and waiting for transfer.

So - in the UK -

twice presented to the ward - chest infections, respiratory issues.

1. almost 4

2a. never 2b. n/a 3a. never 3b. n/a

Q1: How old are your kids? 10,3,3,13wks
Q2a: How many times have you called an ambulance for them? once
Q2b: What was the diagnosis? baby went blue and had trouble breathing-turned out to have heart problem
Q3a: How many times have you been to A&E with kids? once
Q3b: What was the diagnosis? went to get a small cut glued (wouldn't stop bleeding)

1. 8 & 6
2. never
3. n/a
4. 7 or 8
5. tonsilitis and mild chest infection

Q1: How old are your kids? 3.5 and nearly 5
Q2a: How many times have you called an ambulance for them? once
Q2b: What was the diagnosis? acute croup
Q3a: How many times have you been to A&E with kids?
twice
Q3b: What was the diagnosis? - croup incident above and one swallowed 5p piece !

Q1: 2 1/2
Q2a: once
Q2b: all ok (I slipped and fell on the stairs with her as a tiny babe. It was late, I was on my own and we dont have a car so I thought the best thing to do was to phone an ambulance. Babe was fine but I had a thumping headache from banging my head)
Q3a: twice
Q3b: 1. as above
2. stitches

1 - 5, 2, 7 weeks
2 - never
2b - n/a
3a - once to A&E with ds1, twice to Primary Care at A&E (emergency GP at weekends)
3b - A&E - pea stuck in nose (the little wretch!), other two times, chest infection and severe ear infection.

Oh, forgot!!! Dd once to A&E. Diagnosis - whacked her head off a wooden bench, came up instantly in huge lump. No concussion/follow up.

when we took our one in for the coin swallowing incident - we were told - 3 boys - ok we wil be seeing a lot of you over the next few years ! - which was a bit scary. So far we have only been in for the croup incident (which I don't think is the type of thing they were predicting )

1. 7 and 4
2. Never

2b. N/a 3a. Too many to count. 3b. DS1 - serious streptococcal infection leading to 2 weeks' hospitalisation; cut on head needing cleaning and glueing; swollen testicle needing ultrasound (Sunday night, otherwise we'd have gone to GP); knocked top teeth out falling out of tree and needed tooth extraction/patching up/local anaesthetic; coughing up blood and high temp that wouldn't come down - admitted for 2 days with mycoplasma infection; neck X-ray following whiplash injury when go-karting, revealed just muscle injury DS2; 3 asthma attacks - once observed for 10 hours, twice admitted for 2 and 3 days; for his bronchiolitis admission we went via the GP; fall onto face involving severe facial swelling and bruising to check for fractures; once when he pulled a chest of drawers over on himself and couldn't put weight on leg - decided it was just bad bruising

I think my children just injure themselves a lot, but fortunately most have been minor. We've also had 7 hospital admissions, whereas my sister's 3 girls have never been in hospital for anything.