Last week I experienced a situation which is every new parent’s nightmare. I woke up in the night to my baby making a strange noise. I found him to be pale, unresponsive and completely limp. I am an adult nurse but my mind went blank and I can honestly say I didn’t know what to do except call for help.
The lady 999 operator was wonderful. She managed to get enough information out of me in my panicked state to assess the situation and talk me through how to maintain my babies airway to help him breath. The 17 minute wait for an ambulance felt like forever but her presence through talking me through it was reassuring. Eventually my baby coughed up some mucus just as the paramedics where arriving and started moving his legs again.
The paramedics who arrived where a God send. The first to get to my baby was a mum of 6 children. I was informed of this very early on by the second ambulance paramedics who arrived and said Your in good hands there. As a mum of 6 she knows what she’s doing. That was such a relief for me to hear. They where able to clear more mucus from my babies airway and warm him up before getting us to crosshouse in record time. Truly they saved the day.
Once at ED the staff where again amazing. Even though my baby’s airway was clear by this stage and he was responsive, they still had the eyes to recognise that he wasn’t quite himself. The warmed him up, gave him fluids and ruled out underlying infection. Quickly with their care he bounced back to his happy self and we were able to go up to the ward. The doctor who had treated us in ED reviewed us upstairs explaining everything every step of the way. Her conscientiousness gave me the reassurance I needed after such a frightening night.
Finally the staff at ward 1b where lovely. They taught me infant basic life support which gave me the confidence I needed to know what to do if this every occurs again. There was one nursing assistant in particular called Jill who normally covers Neonate who was extra kind to us just before we left.
These amazing people made a horrible situation much better. I am so greatful for every single one of them and for our amazing NHS.
"Unresponsive 2 month old baby"
About: Accident & Emergency / Children's A&E Accident & Emergency Children's A&E KA2 0BE Crosshouse Hospital / Paediatrics Crosshouse Hospital Paediatrics KA2 0BE Scottish Ambulance Service / Emergency Ambulance Scottish Ambulance Service Emergency Ambulance EH12 9EB
Posted by SJYMac (as ),
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