'Other Side Of The Fence'

[Bush Tucker Man]

I had a trip back to A&E late this afternoon, only on the receiving end..

Everyday we pick up 'Dave-with-the Discovery's 2 children (next-door-but-one) as they go to the same school.
We then entertain them until Ann (mum) or Dave come to pick them up.

It got to about 17:00, the in-laws & myself were talking to Dave in the kitchen, and in place of all the giggling from the back-parlour was almightly screaming.
We all went in, & Amelia (ours) was 'yelling her head off' & holding her arm.
From the eldest (of Ann & Daves 2) we got the story that they'd been playing 'Stepping Stones' (as usual) & Amelia had slipped of one of tne stools they use & had hit her arm on the hearth.
It looked bad, so off up to good old A&E.

A 'couple of strings were pulled' & we were straight in..

After an examination & X-Rays a 'Complete Separation of the Distal Humerous' was diagnosed.
Basically that means that the Humerous (the bone between the shoulder & elbow) had broken a couple of inches above the elbow & was now overlapping.
Not good for anyone, let alone an, almost, 4year old child.

By now Mum had arrived from the office in Leeds, and being a Nurse by training (at Pinderfields as well) was 'pulling strings' of her own.

It so happened that she knew the Orthopaedic Consultant on call & asked the Registrar to tell him we were there.

Not too long after we were on the childrens ward awaiting the call to theatre.
At 21:50 we were up there in the Anaesthetic room .
By 00:00, she was back on the ward with a wired elbow, potted & sound asleep.
Mum's stopping the night on the ward & I'm tired, having been up since 04:00.


I always try to defend the NHS staff, but we couldn't have had better treatment as patients.

[Range Rover Blues]

I have to wonder how well you would have fared if you hadn't pulled those strings though.
I've had cause to visit the hospital twice for X-rays following car accidents and thew difference between 2 of my local hospitals was very marked.  Bassetlaw had me in and out within 90 minutes, admittedly in the afternoon.  I hadn't even found a seat when I was called into triage and from then on I hardly had to wait for anything.

But the treatment my Dad had, don't get me started!

[Bush Tucker Man]

All A&E departments should treat on priority, which is why patients are 'Triaged'.
They are then (usually) marked, Red, Amber, Green & unclassified.
Red being the most urgent.
If there are no real emergencies Children & the elderly are given a certain degree of priority.
But even then, the entire chain may be knocked back dependant on an Ambulance arrival taking 'Clinical Priority'

I must state that I personally didn't 'pull strings' on the way in, one of the Receptionists did (& so did the Sister in charge)
The last time I attended on my own behalf (as a patient) was after placing a finger between a metal racking & a large Oxygen cylinder. I was 'fast-tracked' (with no request to be).
I had it trefined & the bloodstain is still on the celing :lol:

[Range Rover Blues]

Too much detail, now I feel queesy.

[Wanderer]

Trefined?

Isn't that RHPC

Red Hot Paper Clip.

I do hope Amelia gets better soon. It's heartbreaking when things like this happen to children.

Ed

[Vam]

Hope Amelia feels better soon, It's horible when the little are hurt like that.

Have to say our experience with Hospitals is varied, Alex then aged 5 was taken in by ambulance with severe Croup.  Paramedic got to  the house whilst we were still on the phone, he thought he was going to have to to a tracheotomy at first.

Scary time, though typically by the time the ambulance had got us to the hospital he was absolutely fine.

We then had a 6 hour wait,  as loads of pxxxxd up teens were being admitted and treated first, yes I know they are a prority (as were we) but it is frustrating. We eventually got seen at 4 am.

Cams been in during the day (various objects in various oriffices   :shock: ) and we've been in and out in a couple of hours.

Adults it seems, always have longer to wait

Can't fault the treatment, but try to avoid the evening shifts  :twisted:

[Bush Tucker Man]

Trefined?

Isn't that RHPC

Red Hot Paper Clip.

I do hope Amelia gets better soon. It's heartbreaking when things like this happen to children.

Ed

It is indeed :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted:
Lots o people faint due to rapid change in blood pressure.

She's home (at 16:00), eating chocolate & watching 'Dora The Explorer', if she can eat chocolate there's nothing seriously wrong

[Colin 009]

Good hear she home and hope all goes well, :)

A couple of years ago my gas boiler decided to try and kill me. After collasping on the floor managed to get to the phoneto call amblance, then got up to  get the front  door open,

After been taken to A&E they then got me in another amberlance and was taken to a private hospital in St Johns Wood that has a chamber for treating the Bends. Spent saturday night in chamber with a couple of nurses and then in the morning teated to a 5-star breakfast. How much this treatment cost I dont know, just glad it was there.

[Bush Tucker Man]

Helen, I guess that was a worrying time for you (Nominated for 'Understatement Of The Year' there)

I know exactly what you mean about the drunken louts (to put it mildly!) that infect A&E's across the country.
Sadly it's 'Catch 22' with them.
Do you make them sit & wait, potentially causing chaos?
Or see to them & kick them out of the door in record time (preferably attached to a Policeman :twisted: )

One of our Nurses was smacked in the face & throat a couple of weeks ago on nights & the assailant is probably going to jail, unless she's got a 'Bleeding Heart (on Legal Aid) Lawyer'
"Poor little Sally had a deprived childhood M'Lord, she's not responsible"

And the Magistrate says; "Bo**ocks! 2 months in Jail"
That's the way to do it :lol:  

Colin; Hyperbaric Chambers are few & far between in this country, our nearest one for example is at Hull.
It was initially called the bends due to the position assumed by most people on its onset, first encountered by Caisson Workers in Victorian times
Caissons being the 'pressure chambers' used to dig the foundations under water for bridge piers.
They were pressurised to keep water from entering.

[Colin 009]

Hi Richard, "Hyperbaric Chamber" thats the thing.

They said that if they one in London couldnt take me they wold have had to drive down to Portsmouth or was it Plymouth  :(

Dont fancy doing it again, so have carbon m. detectors all over the place now.

[Vam]

Helen, I guess that was a worrying time for you (Nominated for 'Understatement Of The Year' there)

You could say that   , we thought he was having a coughing fit/asmatha attack, phoned NHS hot line who heard him and called the paramedic
From when he woke up to not really breathing was about 15 minutes
Not something I wish to repeat ever again  :roll:

I know exactly what you mean about the drunken louts (to put it mildly!) that infect A&E's across the country.
Sadly it's 'Catch 22' with them.
Do you make them sit & wait, potentially causing chaos?
Or see to them & kick them out of the door in record time (preferably attached to a Policeman :twisted: )

 :lol: padded holding bays?

Well these kids were so out of it they needed medical help  :shock:

Maybe Im old before my time, (I was young once to and have been rather drunk on more than one occasion   ) But theres something seriously wrong if a 14 year old girl has alcoholic poisoning, I really feel there is a case here for the parents to stump up the medical bill,

Like I said Al was fine by the time we got to the hospital, he was given more medicine on arrival and was his usual self. the 6 hour wait to be told 'yeah he's fine go home' was frustrating (though at the same time I was glad to be there for a couple hours 'just in case'

Some parents actually gave up and went home - which begs the question should they have been there in the first place?

One of our Nurses was smacked in the face & throat a couple of weeks ago on nights & the assailant is probably going to jail, unless she's got a 'Bleeding Heart (on Legal Aid) Lawyer'
"Poor little Sally had a deprived childhood M'Lord, she's not responsible"

And the Magistrate says; "Bo**ocks! 2 months in Jail"
That's the way to do it :lol:  

Im with you on this one, One of my friends was an IC nurse, and they had problems with violent paitients relatives.
She's a district nurse now.

Gald to hear Amelias out and eating chocolate.  :lol:

[Luke]

Very nice when you have strings to pull, unfortunately few people are able to do this.

A couple of years back my wife was assaulted in the street.  She was taken to hospital in an ambulance and deposited at A&E with suspected concussion.

Triaged within a blistering 2 hours (which took us up to 10pm).
We then proceeded to wait, and wait, and wait.  Eventually after 10 hours we gave up and went home.

To say we weren't impressed, was an understatement.

I'm glad in your case that the child was able to be seen quickly.  Just because we have had awful experience with the NHS, doesn't mean we wish it on anyone else.

[dracula]

There is a hyperbaric chamber at Plymouth, has been for many years,
probably because of H.M.Dockyard, H.M.S. Drake + Raleigh and various
other Service establishments.
As to being fast tracked thru' A+E , BTM ,you tell me what other
perks do us N.H.S. staff get  :?:  :?: ....none.
Paul.

[Bush Tucker Man]

As to being fast tracked thru' A+E , BTM ,you tell me what other
perks do us N.H.S. staff get  :?:  :?: ....none.
Paul.

Well......
Erm...
Let me think........
None actually......
Even the NHS tea is cr*p, so I buy my own (Yorkshire Tea) tea-bags.
They even charge us to park on our own Hospital grounds!!! :shock:

Still the permit does allow me to park at the other Hospitals in the trust;
Pontefract, Dewsbury, Clayton & White Rose House (management types).
Clayton & 'WRH' are both within 'spitting distance' of the city centre so come in handy at times on a weekend :lol:
The other advantage (at our Hospital) is a good amount of Non-Clinical Specialities, so if I need the advice of a Plumber, Electrician, Joiner, Painter, General Engineer, IT/PC 'bod', Gardener, etc.....  all I have to do is ask the relevant person :D
We've also got one of the WYMAS garages on site for servicing/repairing Ambulances, staff can use it for their own vehicles as well.
It's not an exorbitant hourly rate either (do MoT tests as well)

[dracula]

So you have to pay to park as well. That is if you can find a space :twisted:
We also have the Estates who are pretty good at helping,
in fact the electronic guys sorted my rear wiper for the princely
sum of a few £ in their tea boat.
Sadly the local ambulance no longer do staff cars due to staff cutbacks
Still if you ever need blood let me know
Paul.

[Bush Tucker Man]

So you have to pay to park as well. That is if you can find a space :twisted:

I've got a special spot for when I'm on afternoons, only lost it a handful of times (it's up a 15" high kerb)
On earlies I park in the 'Top Brass' car-park. Well they might as well look for that extra space elsewhere :lol:

Still if you ever need blood let me know
Paul.

Not a problem, know the Transfusion staff fairly well (& the Mortuary/Post-Mortem Technicians :lol: )
It still amazes how well everything fits inside a human body :D  :D

Or is that too much detail? :lol: