Whilst trying to come up with an idea for a quality post for everyone to read, I remembered a particularly scary situation from when I was in high school.
I went to the sick bay (nurses station etc) one day and I can't particularly remember what I went for. Perhaps I had a headache, cramps or something, but I remember it wasn't so bad that I had to go home.
Whilst lying there, a young girl was carried in. Now I have seen photos of anaphylaxis but I had not yet seen it in real life so I saw her red, swollen skin and coughing and my mind said: She must be having an allergic reaction. I was interested to see how the staff handled the situation, as this would be how I would be handled if I was to have such a reaction at school.
The story goes that her buddy from another year level shared food with her that everyone thought was safe, but it contained one of her allergens. The nurse spoke to the teacher and established that other medication had been given and they needed to use the epipen and call and ambulance straight away. The nurse communicated this to the young girl (who was year 4 at the time) who absolutely refused and started crying. As soon as I heard the nurse say: Michaela, we need to give you the epipen. My heart lept into my throat.
This girl has the same name as me, the same allergens and went to the same school. All I could think of was how scared I would feel in that situation and how it could so easily have been me instead of her. The nurse left the room to grab the epipen and tell one of her staff to call an ambulance, leaving her for a maximum of one minute. I jumped up from my bed and walked over to try and calm her down as she was sobbing and in pain.
I remember what I said first, which was commenting that we had the same name and the same allergies. I just wanted to distract her from what was happening so that we could save her life. When the nurse came back in, I had stopped her crying so much just by talking to her about general everyday things. I held her hand and kept talking while the nurse put in the epipen. I didnt leave her side until the ambulance and her parents turned up.
It was such a crazy experience as I didn't think about what I was doing until I stopped and sat down. Her parents and teacher came up and gave me a hug and thanked me and the paramedics said I did a great job calming her down. I heard nothing from the school, but didnt expect anymore thankyou's. I didn't do it for the recognition; I did it because I related and felt her pain and knew she just needed someone there to understand. A few months later I went back to the sick bay and was asked if I had received a copy of the letter. The kind parents of the young girl had written to the school commending me on my actions and asking the school for some recognition (which I received later in the form of a community service award). It blew me away that my simple action had such a big impact.
In my last few days at high school we had a primary school immersion day where we reminisced on our past. I sought out that young girl to see how she was going. She told me she appreciated what I did so much and that she hadnt had another reaction since.
It just goes to show that all we need sometimes is a bit of understanding to get us through. It got me thinking about how other young children reacted when they needed an epipen? Do you have any stories? How have your kids reacted?
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Have a great week everyone! :D
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