Emergency Room Series -When Literacy Is Misused.

They say illiteracy is a disease but I've realised that even literacy is a disease as well.

I've written several posts of people doing things because they feel its the right thing to do, even if it could cause the death of someone they love.

A woman who was well educated did something one wouldn't expect. Her child was having a fever at home, she didn't bring the child until the fever became worse and the child started to convulse. When the child was brought to the ER, the child was seriously struggling to breath, convulsing and was drooling bloody saliva. The child's tongue was swollen and the skin was pale. 

The mother was asked what she had given the child at home and she said she gave the child onions, ginger and water. She didn't even give ordinary paracetamol! 

What would ginger and onions do to help a fever that serious? As if that was not enough, the child unexpectedly developed a reaction to either the ginger or onion she gave, or maybe she gave something else and didn't want to tell us. The child's tongue was swollen to twice the size and was bleeding. 

Apparently she had tried to force things into the child's mouth while the child was convulsing and injured the child who began to bleed from the mouth.

By the time the child got to the ER, all the accessory muscles were bulging as the child struggled to breath. The child was immediately given injections to calm the temperature and relax the muscles. The child also had antihistamines and corticosteroids to reduce the allergy. We had to suction but it wasn't effective because the swollen tongue had occupied a large portion of the mouth and even blocked the airway. The oxygen saturation was very poor. 

The child was placed on oxygen and blood samples were collected. The doctors had to get the surgical team to perform a procedure called tracheostomy so the child could breath. This means an opening was carefully made in the neck to cut and open the throat or say airway and a tube was passed to deliver oxygen directly to the lungs. The mother was panicking and kept saying her husband would kill her if anything happened to the child.

Despite the tracheostomy, oxygen, IV fluids, injections, suctioning and everything else done, the child wasn't improving as expected. The longer a person stays without oxygen, the higher the chances of brain damage. For about 3hours, the child was still unconscious. The test results showed severe bacterial infection and the child was commenced on antibiotics. 

The child is still in the ER, unconscious and still on oxygen. It would be a very long journey to recovery for the child since the child had been deprived of oxygen for sometime before getting to the ER. The doctors are querying brain damage as well and looking out for the signs. The tracheostomy would take a long time to heal too. 

I can't overemphasise the need for parents to stop giving children herbs and concoction to drink when their children are having a fever.

IT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE.

 Never try to give a child food or drinks when convulsing as the child could aspirate and that would make matter worse. Every parent should have at least a bottle of paracetamol syrup at home and you are to give the child immediately you notice a fever.

 You are expected to take the child to a hospital as well. 

Do not kill your child with your own hands. 

Stop taking advise from people on how to care for your child's health. Stop believing superstitious beliefs.

I really hope the child makes it and without brain damage. The mother appears to be very scared of the father. Maybe it's their first child or a miracle child. She had a bank's ID card with her so I'm sure she's educated to some point and can't imagine she could do such a thing.