A BUSY DAY IN CHILDREN EMERGENCY!
By Chidiebele Samuel
Dr Sandra’s shift in the Children Emergency Care room was a particularly busy one. She is currently attending to the most critical of the seven patients in the room. A 2 year old girl with severe form of infection of the blood who is almost in a state of the multiple organ collapse; a condition known as septic shock. She did all the necessary things in an attempt to stabilize the child and sent samples to Laboratory for urgent investigations.
Just as she was about to extract more information from the mother of the two year old, her cellphone rang and she picked. She listened attentively to the other speaker almost dumbfounded. When she dropped the call, she got up to her call room to analyze what she just heard.
The Head teacher of her son’s school was calling to inform her that her 2 year old child, Chibuzor, had convulsion in school and was being taken to the hospital for treatment. She is certainly in a very complicated situation. There is no one to go see her child. Her husband is out of town on a business trip. There is no close relative in the town that can be of help. She is on call attending to critically ill patients in Children Emergency room and it is unethical for her to leave her duty post. Her shift does not end until in 2 hours time. Moreover, there is no other available Senior Registrar in Children Emergency as doctors are currently stretched due to acute shortage of doctors in the department.
Almost instantly, she thought of Dr Precious. Dr Precious is a close friend and works in the specialist hospital in town. “If she is around, she can help take care and stabilize my baby”: she said to herself. She picked up her phone again and called Dr Precious explaining her situation and urging her to help take optimal care of her child till she will be able to come over. Following that, Dr Sandra called back the school directing them to take her boy to the public specialist hospital in town where precious works.
When she dropped the call, her eyes were filled with tears. “How can a caring mother abandon her very sick child, just because she is at work”? She asked herself. “How can anyone possibly be at her best in this kind of situation?” “Well, she is trained to be a doctor”, she said apparently in attempt to reassure herself. “She has to give her patients the best possible care. She has to show some control and continue to be calm in face of adversity”, she concluded.
Having confirmed that her child is now in the Specialist hospital under the custody of Dr Precious, she wiped away her tears, composed herself and went back to the Emergency Room. She immediately commenced blood transfusion for the child with severe infection under her care and directed two of her junior colleagues on what to do for the other critically ill patient in the Children Emergency room. It’s been almost an hour since she had any update on her son’s status. Almost immediately, her phone rang, Dr Precious was calling to inform her that her baby is responding to treatment though still drowsy. At least her baby is responding to treatment, she said to herself, with a smile forming on her face.
Then, came Dr Chioma, the Senior Registrar in charge of the next shift. Sandra couldn’t hide her joy as she hurriedly and comprehensively handed over the patients to Chioma. From there she dashed to her car to commence a 30 minutes journey back to town to see her baby. At least, he is making improvement, she said to herself.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental
This is dedicated to the very excellent and hardworking female(doctor) colleagues in every part of the world especially those who run their family and also have great dedication to their patients. You guys are SUPER HUMANS and I am really proud of you all.
Happy international Women’s day to you all!
