"My child’s emergency department visit"

Within twenty minutes of my child telling me he had a sore throat we were at the emergency department as he was struggling to breathe! His decline was fast! Security waved us straight in with a quick “don’t worry about the car!” as I’d parked in the pick up lane. Triage barely had the Sat probe on him before he was waved into the department. The ED team were quick to get him into a room and were firing questions at me just as quick. As they deliberated over whether his condition was asthma or anaphylaxis (no history of either) or something else and best treatment options, they were calm yet efficient. I only had to explain once that he is autistic and that procedures would need to be explained, how and why, to lower his anxiety. I was able to find an out of the way position within sight for my son as they got to work. 

Suddenly there were whispers of enquiry as to whether his condition might be croup. “Croup!?!” I said, “he’s a young adolescent!” 

Lo and behold, a few phone call conversations back and forth with available children’s hospital staff, a few suggested treatments later and my son was gaining his regular breathing patterns back. It was croup. No cold like symptoms before this. He didn’t even have the standard barking cough parents of croup sufferers will easily identify. All three of my kids have had croup in the past as preschoolers/toddlers. I thought you grew out of it. He went from “Mum, I’ve got a sore throat” to looking at me with pure terror in his eyes as he struggled to breathe. All within twenty minutes! 

Once the medications kicked in, he was able to relax and I knew he was on the mend when his curiosity for all things medical and biology came back and he was grilling the staff on how everything worked and offering his own knowledge. Ha! 

He was kept for about two hours more for observation and we were discharged home with strict instructions to call an ambulance if this were to ever happen again. I had originally thought he was acting up to get the day off school so I reluctantly drove him to ED when his condition worsened considerably in the car and I ran a red light to get to the hospital. 10/10 do not recommend doing this. 

All in all our experience with the BCH ED team we saw was exemplary. They were efficient, caring and knowledgeable staff with my son's best interests at heart. They were quick to liaise with children’s hospital staff to ensure they were absolutely giving the most appropriate care and very informative when speaking with me and/or my son. 

From my understanding, croup in older children is pretty rare and yet the ED staff were on to it pretty quickly. 

He made a full recovery and refers to the whole thing as “the night I almost died”. Oh boy! 

I have chosen to write about our experience because I fear that it has become common “knowledge” that Wonthaggi hospital doesn’t treat children. I’ve heard from other parents that they’ve struggled through the night with kids with asthma, high fevers, severe stomach pains, trying to avoid being sent to metro hospitals. 

My humble advice is if you’re worried, don’t wait. In my experience, the ED team I saw at BCH are knowledgeable and on speed dial to the children’s hospitals. In my opinion, you will get appropriate assessments done at Wonthaggi and you may or may not be transferred out to be admitted to Monash or the royal children’s hospital but there are much worse endings that can occur if you wait it out at home.