"A medical emergency with my child."

Recently, my young toddler fell and hit their head, becoming instantly drowsy and difficult to rouse.

I took them to the Cowes Minor Injury and Incident Clinic where they were seen promptly and not having to wait longer than five minutes.  

The attending nurse Linda made her assessment and called the Doctor in straight away. An urgent ambulance was called as my child had then become unresponsive.

The ambulance arrived very quickly and the attending local Paramedics Frank and Shay were wonderful in my moment of panic, they were friendly, calming and professional. I felt I was in safe hands in their presence.

On our way to Monash Hospital, Frank was with me in the back of the ambulance and he was attentive, thorough, understanding and reassuring when I needed it as we did not know the outcome at this stage. Frank and Shae were lovely and I felt they genuinely cared for my toddler as they asked me to call up their local branch to let them know the outcome.  Frank helped me to remain positive and not to think worst case scenario at any point. Frank never gave me the 'what ifs' that can often be frightening when you are told what could 'possibly' happen.  He was re-assuring all the way and gave me the facts.

We were intercepted by a MICA unit along the way, this change over was co-ordinated and went to plan, I was in admiration for the Paramedics as I observed the actions they took.  

Brenton and his co-worker from the MICA unit was a friendly, skilled professional who helped me to feel relaxed on our way to Monash.  When my toddler started to improve and to become more alert Brenton even let them borrow his personal phone to watch a kids show to conserve my own battery.  The co-worker also made a poodle balloon for my child on our arrival and I really felt safe and cared for.

Monash Hospital were excellent in their care also, they were equipped and prepared for our arrival and were pleased to see my child return to their well, happy state within a few hours.  After observation we were allowed to go home, and my child has been fine since. 

I'm very thankful and have so much admiration for the health professionals involved in this experience, as although it was frightening at the time the people involved really made such a difference as to how I coped, and how I feel looking back about the whole experience.