"Taking my infant in for febrile convulsion"

Reception- I arrived with my infant child to the ER in an ambulance for febrile convulsion due to high temperature. As you can imagine it is a traumatizing experience for any parent to go through so naturally I was all panicked and my little one would not settle and was crying inconsolably in my arms. 

I was made to wait at the entrance while the paramedics explained to the staff what had happened. 

The receptionist came to ask me all relevant details to register me. I was standing in the corridor with people just passing by me and then I was handed panadol in a syringe to administer to my child while just standing there and clearly I was so shaken. A dr passing by noticed quickly and asked please move mum to the waiting area so she can sit and calm Bub down. 

ED- I was then called into the ED and the nurse asked me what had happened and took all necessary details. Asked me to wait for the dr. This was late afternoon. The dr came in around 2 hours later asked me all the same questions and did a thorough check. I believe she was amazing (Liz). We needed to collect a urine sample which is quite a task at this age but she talked me through it. By later in the night we had concluded that the severe temperatures were due to a urine infection so they would consult with the pediatrician and get back to me. The nurse asked me if I wanted any nurofin for my child and so she gave another dose a few minutes later ( Sam) she was really helpful and friendly. 

The pediatrician Dr Gajanan came in and asked me very calmly step by step what happened and closely examined my child again. He said we would need to take some blood samples for further testing but would definitely keep them under observation for the night. 

He said they would be shifting us to the ward and start their treatment. 

We waited till around early hours of the morning. Until this time there was very limited staff and so we were left with no answers as to how long would this be taking. Bringing an infant child in with seizures is quite an emergency I think so it was important for me to know what was happening as we were not receiving any treatment yet. But was diagnosed roughly later that night.

Dr Gajanan came around 15 minutes later to take a blood sample. 

This is a horrible task but but him and Sam were very gentle and kept reassuring and making sure I was ok. 

After this we were left alone. By this time my child started to get really unsettled again and I started to walk around with them to settle them down. I noticed all the symptoms again before they has a convulsion so I pressed the red button and waited as I believe there was no staff in the area. I then went on to knock at the door to signal Sam who came at the glass door and then went on to find a dr. 

10 minutes nothing...... by this time Dr Gajanan came in and noticed I was in panic and I said please help me they are not well. We put them down and they had another seizure. 

Things then moved on very quickly from there. 

Pediatric ward- I was welcomed in and given an induction. 

Dr Gajanan kept checking in on us to see if we were well and all the treatments had started. 

Staff extremely helpful and assuring. Always asking if I had any questions. We stayed here for 4 days and was very impressed with the level of care received for my child. 

On the last day Dr Rafiq visited to make sure he explained to me what happened and what we needed to do further with the treatment. And also explained all the follow up procedures.  

I would like to mention special thanks to all the nurses who helped us during these days and nights:- 

Natalie, Tamara, Coral and Chris.

In my opinion you were all absolutely amazing and caring!