Son Fell Has Possible Broken Arm; Should We Try To The Other Er Or Wait Until His Doctor Opens?
Our son’s 9 months old,almost 10. He fell tonight in the kitchen(he’ll pull up on the cabinet and try to take a few steps on his own) which has tile flooring. He landed on his arm and let out this blood curdling scream. He really never does that when he falls. I mean,he’ll cry but not scream like he did tonight. So my boyfriend and I tried to calm him down. That didn’t really work. He was still crying 10 minutes later & his arm began to swell on the way to the ER(it was after his pediatricians office had closed—my boyfriend also tried to touch which only made our son scream again). The ER was busy,which I understand,but the doctor there didn’t even look my baby. She told us to go home & ice his arm. My boyfriend told her that his arm was swollen & hurting him & that he wanted it to be x-rayed. She told him that they were too busy to handle a “minor case” and that we should go home & ice his arm. If we still were concerned,we could take him to his doctor in the morning. He didn’t like that answer(neither did I but I was more concerned about my son who was still upset). He went back & forth with the doctor before I finally had to just tell him we should leave(didn’t want him to do anything that would get him in trouble).
We’re back at home now(a few minutes). I gave him some Infant Motrin & he’s sleeping now but when my boyfriend touches his arm even while sleep,he’ll…I guess you can call it a whimper(he’s done it once—I won’t let him do it again like he wants to). We’re just worrying about his arm being broken. He’d move it(when awake) but not much,by looking at it his arm looks normal. The second nearest hospital is about a 2.5 hour drive from where we live(if we call his doctor she’ll just tell us to go to the ER here).
Should we try to go there tonight or wait until his doctor opens(which is about at the same time we would get to the other hospital)?
And has this ever happened to you at a hospital/ER?
OMG…that’s never happened to me before at any ER…I’m so sorry you had to go through this… wow… sent you home? didn’t even look at baby? I would’ve taken this persons name down and called the local TV station…
I understand that they’re busy and that your son’s case is not a priority emergency(life/death situation) but they could’ve told you to wait his turn..
I’m not a doctor but I would be outraged at the service at this place…
At this point you’re home…baby is sleep and it wouldn’t make sense to go to ER that far away… I would say keep him as still as possible and let him sleep til Doc opens in AM….
However, you should write a complain letter to that hospital administration and tell your doctor about it (He/she may have friends w/ influence there) and anyone that would listen…your baby was in pain! that’s crazy service!
If he does turn out to have a broken arm, I would call a lawyer to sue hospital for baby’s unnecessary suffering…
Alright the ER. Can be an annoying place the doctors triage whcih means they decide what patient is the worse and they start with that patient and work down the list. i would just stay home and do what the doctor told u in the ER. just ice it and do everything u can to keep the baby in the least possible pain. if he can move it the he didnt break it he just sprained it or just hurt it. If it keeps hurting when someone touches just leave it alone and wait till morning. Doctors can be rude and not really look like much help but just do as he told you and wait till morning. hOpe the baby gets better
Does your doctor’s office have an x-ray machine? I can’t believe they turned you away, must be some hospital. If your son does have a broken arm I would certainly consider legal action against the hospital that turned you away.