"Child having anaphylaxis and was ignored for 5 hours"

Late at night recently, my child, who is under 10 years-old was red like sunburn and was collapsing, floppy and unresponsive. We called an ambulance and waited 45mins for them to arrive. 

After arriving at the hospital, rather than being taken straight through to the emergency ward, my child was left in the waiting room for 3 hours. I begged a nurse in triage to take their temp as their skin was burning. The nurse seemed to roll their eyes at me and it took them 20 minutes (they were on a computer at the time and my understanding is that they had no patients) to come check my child. The triage nurse took my child's temp, it was normal and walked away. 

An hour later we were taken into the ED bed. My child was ignored for another hour. Not one person checked on my child to see how they were doing. Not a single nurse even poked their head in to let us know they were coming soon. 

I went over to the nurse station and they were all standing around and, in my opinion, gossiping and laughing. They saw me and, I feel, ignored me and continued talking for another few minutes. 

Eventually, one nurse came out to me. I asked if anyone was going to see my child. In my opinion, they looked bored and agitated with me and I feel said, incredibly condescendingly, that they were busy and my child wasn't a high priority. 

I got angry and yelled that they are a child, specifying their age, and staff need to see them. The nurse asked me if something had happened. I got very upset at this point and burst out, yes that's why we caught an ambulance here. I believe the nurse looked bored with me and had the nerve to say to me that my child is fine and that they have been keeping an eye on my child. This is when I got really upset and yelled not one person has checked on my child. 

The doctor came in after this altercation with the nurse. The doctor took one look at my child and claimed they had a viral rash. The doctor told me my child collapsing was just from them taking Phenergan. I kept pushing it was wrong and it was an allergic reaction and the doctor kept assuring me I was wrong it was just a viral rash. 

I actually said to the doctor that I felt like an idiot now that I called an ambulance. The doctor told me that I did what I thought was right at the time.

They had another doctor check my child who came to the same conclusion it was viral. 

My child was offered a steroid and that was it. They were vomiting at this point and their rash was now covering their entire body. 

Early in the morning, after repeatedly being told it was a normal viral rash that had to pass on its own, I asked if I should go home. The doctor said I could wait for the critical team or leave. I asked the doctor their professional opinion on if my child would be safe going home or if I should stay. At this point, I was starting to think maybe I was overreacting after how many times they told me it was viral and not one person seemed concerned. 

The doctor told me they thought there was only a 2% chance something worse would happen when we got home. But if it did we could come back and see the critical team. 

We were home an hour later. An hour after that, my child collapsed to the floor and was unresponsive again. 

We raced them back to the hospital, by this point the critical team were available and the critical doctor took one look at my child and said they were in anaphylactic shock. 

My child needed 3 shots of adrenaline and eventually an IV bag of adrenaline. When I spoke with this doctor, I told them about my child collapsing at home, I understand this information was not passed on by the staff who saw my child that night. The critical doctor explained to me my child's situation was a lot worse than what they were led to believe. My child was flown to Perth that afternoon and was in ICU in a metro hospital that night through to the following afternoon.  

I think my child was completely ignored by the staff at the hospital that night and I was made to feel like an overreacting idiot. No one listened to me. No one took me seriously. I believe there was zero care factor that night. This story could be so much worse. In my opinion, the staff who ignored my child that night have a lot to answer for. It's disgusting. In my opinion, this should not have gotten to the level it did. I feel completely let down by Bunbury hospital staff that night. 

I'm so thankful for the doctor who was available on the critical team that morning. They saved my child's life. 

It was a traumatic experience we both had. But the part that makes me the most emotional is the fact I was begging for help, I feel I did everything right and I was ignored.