Fed up

My 15 month old fell from top to bottom of the stairs earlier. I had the stairs blocked and both me and my mum were up there with her but in separate rooms. I looked away for maybe 10 seconds and could hear her in the bathroom banging on the toilet seat. Next thing I heard was her falling down the stairs after she’d managed to get past the blockage. I never normally take my eye off her upstairs but am running off of basically no sleep as she had me up all night. I straight away ran down the stairs and shouted to call an ambulance. She cried for about a minute and then was laughing and trying to play but we were already on the phone to 999. I waited over an hour back for a call back and they said she seemed fine and to watch her closely and call the gp in the morning. I’d be been waiting to give her dinner as I’d been told to wait until speaking to someone. I was just about to put her to bed and they’ve called back and said she needs to go to a&e and have sent out a cat 3 ambulance. I’m so fed up because why didn’t they do this earlier? They want her to have a scan which is fair enough and I’d actually appreciate it but I just feel like they should have done this sooner or booked us in for one in the morning as we are going to be waiting hours now anyway. She’s been awake since 3pm and I am absolutely exhausted. Am I right to be annoyed at how it’s been handled?
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Honestly I wouldn’t be annoyed at the ambulance service myself, I understand the stresses they are under and are often dealing with life and death situations so they have to triage accordingly. Booking a scan also isn’t up to the paramedics or emergency response service, it’s the hospital’s resource and doing it as an outpatient is usually totally different to doing it as an inpatient. It’s complicated is what I’m getting at.

@Char I’m more annoyed that they said she was fine and could go sleep and to just contact the gp in the morning then nearly 2 hours later say she needs to go to the hospital. Something was missed and an apology would have been nice instead of just brushing over it and not admitting they’d made a mistake

@Char and I definitely understand the stress they’re under it’s just definitely annoying when it’s such a silly mistake. I was told she didn’t need an ambulance then had it sprung on me at nearly 10 at night that she did. They said I could drive but I don’t have the confidence to drive with how tired I am. The expected wait time for cat 3 is 120 minutes it been about 90. They’ve said they’re delayed tonight so hopefully I have at least another hour so we both get some sleep first 😩

People make mistakes. Maybe the person that told you she was fine, kept your case in their mind and reconsidered. I see it as a good sign It’s better to check and have the support then regret later because you waited until morning. If she has a brain swelling of any kind waiting more hours can be very dangerous. Don’t get annoyed with them because they said this then said the other. I hope she is alright 😘

@Denise just got back from the hospital. The staff seemed a bit confused as well and were questioning me as to why I waited so long which obviously wasn’t the case. They decided against any scans and just observed her for a while. I’ve just been told I can calpol and watch her closely for 24 hours. Absolutely shattered 😩

I don't understand why you're annoyed? You called them, and they helped. You said it wasn't an emergency, but they called back and recommended she get checked out at A&E. Falling down the stairs isn't a little fall! Thankfully, she seems to be OK. I'd be more relieved. The Ambulance Service has limited resources. It's an incredibly complex and stressful job. They deal with life-threatening situations, so they have to prioritise every call.

I have to say, I have heard really mixed things on ambulances. But when I called for my little one when he was a couple months old (he had bad reflux and choked, temporarily stopping breathing) they were with me in less than 3 minutes. I actually could not believe how fast they were there. I think a lot of it depends on what is the main priority at that time understandably.

@Helen I’m annoyed that they told me she didn’t need medical help then sprung on me hours later that she did. It was gone 1am when we got to the hospital and she was shattered. Even the hospital staff weren’t happy with how it was managed. They started to blame me for leaving it so long then realised it wasn’t my fault. A mistake was made and that’s fine, we all make mistakes but it just would have been nice for them to recognise their mistake. Luckily we got home at 4:30am and she slept until midday.

@Bex they can be amazing. My daughter had the flu after new years and I thought she was fitting so called and they were here in like 5 minutes. If they’d said from the beginning oh she needs an ambulance but it will be a while I would have been fine it was just that she’d been awake for nearly 7 hours already and I felt bad for her because she was so tired

I would say next time follow your gut, take her to a&e you knew in your gut it was a big fall so don’t underestimate you as a mumma and your instincts. I’m just going to say this as no one else has and I want to start by saying i’m not judging so please don’t take this negatively. Have you thought about getting a stair gate? You can get them from children charity shops, facebook marketplace, amazon etc they are far more reliable than blockages as those can be pushed down the stairs with your child once they are strong enough and cause a way bigger issue if she starts climbing it(!) again not judging, just want to be helpful!

@Kate I have one at the bottom but my stairs are weird. The bottom one I had to instil on the second step as the railing doesn’t line up with the wall on the bottom one and at the top it doesn’t line up properly either. I just don’t let her walk around upstairs anymore unless someone’s standing at the top of the stairs to avoid it happening again. I also think for the upstairs only a drill in one would be acceptable if I can manage to figure out how to get it line up

@Kate unfortunately at this age they just don’t learn though, she’d do it again without hesitation😩😂

Totally get it! Hope she is ok!

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