Kids and Medication!

[Michael Alexander]

Three mothers watched their screaming, hallucinating and falling children in horror after a student nurse incorrectly gave them an adult sedative.

Storm, 5, Jayden, 2, and 23-month-old Tyran reacted immediately to the 15mg of Dormicum sleeping tablets that are believed to have been meant for the adult patients in the next ward at Netcare Clinton Hospital in Alberton.

A few minutes earlier, on Friday, February 11, an anaesthetist had given the children Stopayne – which also contains 3mg of Dormicum – in preparation for surgery to have their tonsils removed. The doses were so strong that the children kept hallucinating, screaming and falling around after taking it.

Jayden was allegedly roaring like a lion while Tyran cried and screamed until the corners of his mouth were torn.

Dormicum is one of the strongest sleeping tablets on the market, and some of its side effects include restlessness, agitation, irritability, aggression, delusions, anger, nightmares, hallucinations, psychosis and inappropriate behaviour.

Yesterday, the children's parents, Mary-Ann van der Wath, Lindy Schoeman and Nicky Brooks, spoke of their fear.

" 'Scared' is not the word to explain how we felt," said Brooks, Tyran's mother.

After the crying and the screaming, Schoeman recalled, her son Jayden had fallen asleep in her arms with his eyes open. He was still and limp to the point where his parents thought his heart had stopped.

Van der Wath, Storm's mom, believes the incident could have been prevented had the student nurse not argued with her, but had called a more experienced person when she and the other parents had questioned why their children would be given a tablet, especially one meant for adults, instead of a syrup.

"She kept saying it was written in their files and that's what they were supposed to take. I kept arguing with her and she kept arguing back..."

When another nurse realised the mistake, there was panic everywhere, the parents say. The children were rushed to the intensive care unit recovery room, where they were closely monitored. They were kept at the hospital overnight and their tonsils were removed the following day.

They are now seeing a children's psychologist. The parents claim there were signs of trauma – they did not want to be touched or given medication.

It is not yet known how the mistake happened, and the hospital did not explain, saying it was a "totally unusual and much regretted occurrence which should never have happened at all, particularly in the light of the internal systems and protocols that are in place".

But one of the mothers said one doctor was furious about the incident and told her the error happened because the hospital used cheap labour to cut costs instead of qualified staff.

Netcare Clinton has apologised to the parents and promised to reimburse them for the costs of the psychologist.

Barry Bedford, Netcare's south-west regional director, said the statement about cutting costs was "totally incorrect and has no bearing on the incident".

"All student nurses work as part of a team and not independently. They are considered additional to the nurse team," he said.

[toonfandangl]

These drugs they are using today on kids and adults are very scary, their results can be just as harmful as helpful ask before these drugs are administered if its on a child then bloody well ask what it is and are there side effects. We tend to believe in the competence of the medical staff don't! always ask its better coursing a seine than some one ending up like a vegetable.

Van der Wath, Storm's mom, believes the incident could have been prevented had the student nurse not argued with her, but had called a more experienced person when she and the other parents had questioned why their children would be given a tablet, especially one meant for adults, instead of a syrup.

"She kept saying it was written in their files and that's what they were supposed to take. I kept arguing with her and she kept arguing back..."

[Michael Alexander]

Whenever I went for my injections in the bad old days of gout, I would always insist apon seeing the expiration date on the vials ....

Once when I had a helluva headache, through my ears , it was out of this world, I kinda got desperate, and did'nt stick to the times and dosages of the pain medication, went and threw in some gout painkiller medication with the normal stuff...upped the dosage and got to saw Elvis, Motzart and a few other dead people, ....

Interesting experience, but I shall not be doing that in a rush again.....

Now as for morphine.....      

[Bertie Horak]

Using Dormicum before surgery on kids is (unfortunately) standard practice. Supposed to calm them down, and it's also almost "hypnotic" and therefor the kids do not remember the "bad" experience.
My experience is that kids WITHOUT the pre-med (which is given before the operation, and is a cocktail containing Dormicum) often wakes up more calmly, and are able to leave the hospital earlier.
Within minutes of taking the dormicum, they start hallucinating, and the cartoon characters on walls (in most childrens' wards) start to come alive.... (now don't get ideas, Mike!)
Unfortunately, when they wake up after the surgery, they are even MORE CONFUSED and do not know where they are, what's been done to them, who's the funnily dressed people with masks, and why they have pain.... try and control those little kids....

Proper preparation by the parents to explain the whole procedure in a simple manner and putting them at ease about the whole ordeal (at home already), is the best way to go, and reduces the need for pre-meds.
Fortunately when I operated in the cape, I had an excellent group of anesthesiologists who would not give the pre-meds if it's not necessary. We would rather give them something for pain while they are still under, to make the waking up experience more comfortable.  OK, then of course if you have great staff in the childrens ward, who works well with kids... that's 90% of the anxiety out the door... I was blessed, always had great nursing staff where I worked.