PPUM Pediatrics Emergency Department

Being a mom proves to be the hardest job in the world.  Accidents do happen but when they actually happened, most people will panic and unsure what to do.  And when it involves kids, and being the mother of the only child, with no prior emergency experience, this is a traumatizing and frightening episode and a lesson for me to learn.

My 3.5 years old girl was being very curious and naughty that fateful day.  She stood on the chair and play with my massage oil and containers and broke one of the small glass cups and when she panicked she came down from the chair and stepped on the broken glass.

She was bleeding a lot and crying.  Since this happened at about 10.30pm, my first response was to drive her to a 24-hour clinic.  So, we went to the 24-hour Mediviron clinic but was turned away by the nurses, stating that her case is very serious and need to be referred to a hospital instead.

My mind at that time was running at full speed.  I wasn't sure which hospital to go as some hospitals do not have 24-hour emergency care.  Suddenly I remembered reading in one of the mother's group in FB that for any emergencies during weekends or public holidays, it is best to go to the PPUM Pediatrics Emergency Department.  While driving away from Mediviron, I was torn as to whether to bring my girl to our panel private hospital where she was born and I am very familiar with or to go to PPUM Pediatrics Emergency where I am not familiar with at all and the parking system is super weird.  At that time, my hands were shaking, my feelings were mixed with anger, anxiety and nervousness and the only thing that was functioning were my hands and legs.

My heart told me to drive straight to PPUM Pediatrics Emergency Department.  That time the blood has stopped.   Her father was carrying her while I drove at full speed.

I dropped them at the entrance and simply park by the roadside.  

When I came in, the nurses were taking her vitals and checking her wound.  Immediately registered her and paid RM60 for doctor's fees as neither of us are public sector workers.  

Within minutes, we saw the doctor and she responded by cleaning the wound first.  After cleaning, found that the cut on her left foot was about 2-3cm long.  Luckily it was a superficial cut and was not deep. She bandaged the wound and then ordered an x-ray to see if there were any glass pieces inside the wound.

Then I paid another RM10 for the x-ray and very quickly it was done.  While waiting for the x-ray results, the doctor explained to us that if there are no glass pieces inside the wound, then the foot will be stitched and bandaged.  But if there are glass pieces inside, she would need to refer us to see an orthopedic and I assumed will be more complicated and involves surgery.

Thank God, x-ray results shown no glass pieces.  So the next step was to get the foot stitched.  The doctor explained that since my girl was very good and not screaming away and very co-operative, she would suggest to give a local anesthetic (LA) instead of a sedative which is often used for screaming kids in order to get some procedure done.  But sedative comes with a risk that we need to wait for the child to wake up before they can let us go home. 

Another doctor did the stitching.  Before that, my girl was put on a plank and kinda straight jacket her up and covered with a blanket.  This is to prevent her from moving too much during the procedure.  But the moment the doctor injected her with the LA, she screamed and cried.  So throughout the whole stitching procedure, she was screaming away although the foot was numbed.   3 stitches was done.

After that, the doctor wrote a referral letter to any pediatrician that I will be seeing to get the stitches remove and was informed that we have to remove the stitches after 1 week.

We actually planned for an overseas family trip and luckily the stitches will be removed 2 days prior to our flight, giving her 1 day to walk without the stitches and familiarize herself with her newly recovered foot.

Then the doctor prescribed us with paracetamol as pain killer for her and we paid another RM10 for the medication.  Everything was done within an hour.

To all the moms out there, I know none of us would want accidents to happen but these things do happen all the time.  So this info is for mommies and daddies who might have the same misfortune as us.

In case of any kid's emergency, please go straight to the PPUM Pediatrics Emergency Department (PPUM Pediatrik Kecemasan).  Don't bother asking in any mommy's group in FB or to go to any 24-hour clinic.  Don't waste time and drive straight to PPUM Pediatrics Emergency.  They have all the necessary equipment, they are quick on their feet and very efficient with their services.

I know we always heard a lot of negative comments about the services in government hospital, but I assured you, having gone through this horrible experience, this is the best place to go.

I did not go to our panel private hospital because I read that there are usually no doctors during the weekends (only MOs) or doctors are on-call and you have to wait or they will just admit you into the hospital until the specialist arrive.  Whereas at PPUM, the x-ray department was working during those hours.

Please do share this with anyone with a kid.