Malaysiakini Letter:
Trauma at University Malaya Medical Centre
On Dec 4, my husband and son were involved in an accident in Brickfields, where a bus knocked them down.
My son was hit by the bus and thrown on the pavement and my husband was thrown a few metres ahead.
People at the scene called for the ambulance and within few minutes the ambulance came and took us to University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a traumatic moment for me to see both of them bleeding profusely. But my biggest trauma was the experience at the UMMC.
When we reached the hospital, no medical staff took any necessary action to treat both of them immediately. My husband's knees were badly injured and bleeding. My son's head was bleeding from a deep cut. Both of them were bleeding profusely from head to toe and were in a state of shock.
At the hospital, there was neither a stretcher nor a wheelchair for them to lie down on or to sit.
The staff member who was registering their personal details into her computer system was having a hard time printing the form because her printer was not working. She was constantly removing the carbon printer and reloading it.
Eventually, she could not give me the form and told me to take my husband and my son to the consultation room where both of them had to walk to the other end of the emergency ward.
In the consultation room, I told the nurse to attend to them immediately as it was already an hour since the accident happened and I was afraid they may get infected. However, the nurse said she did not have the documents and she had to wait for these to arrive at her counter.
After making some loud demands to the staff, they finally gave my husband and son anti-infection jabs.
Eventually, the UMMC staff asked both of them to go to another room to clean their wounds. That was another room away from the consultation room. By now my husband and son had walked a full circle from the emergency entrance in their bloody condition.
Finally when we got to the other room, there was a woman who was chatting away with a man in the room. She just looked at my husband and son and was not bothered to ask anything nor attend to them until I told her to clean their wounds and do the necessary.
She just looked at me and continued talking with the man. When I asked her who would be attending to my husband and son she said, "Ya lah, nak buat lah ini " and took her own sweet time putting on her gloves while still chatting with the man.
A few minutes later, another man came and had the same lackadaisical attitude. He did not attend to my husband and son either. Both the UMMC staff members were talking about irrelevant things and did not seem to be bothered to attend to the two bleeding patients sitting in the room.
An hour gone since we arrived at the hospital and nothing was done. I therefore had no choice but to rush them to another hospital in a friend's car.
In a moment of anguish and not knowing the extensive of the injuries, we needed the assistance of the medical staff to help us, but what we experienced was lackadaisical attitude. The staff at the UMMC emergency ward had no sense of urgency or commitment to attend to the two seriously injured people.
Is it not mandatory for hospital staff to provide emergency medical care to accident victims, without waiting for formalities? Isn't it essential that an accident victim is treated immediately and initial stabilisation is the single most important factor to be provided to prevent permanent injury?
The UMMC staff members may have seen worse cases, but they should treat every case that comes into the emergency ward with urgency, immaterial whether it is life threatening or not.
Please note that the injuries sustained by my husband and son were not minor. Both of them required multiple stitches for the injuries sustained and some have left permanent damage.
The accident itself was traumatic for me and my family but the experience at the UMMC in Kuala Lumpur was a bigger trauma.
Meanwhile, I would like to thank each person who was at the scene of the accident in Brickfields who helped my husband and son and also to those who offered to take us to the hospital in their car before the ambulance arrived.
My son was hit by the bus and thrown on the pavement and my husband was thrown a few metres ahead.
People at the scene called for the ambulance and within few minutes the ambulance came and took us to University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a traumatic moment for me to see both of them bleeding profusely. But my biggest trauma was the experience at the UMMC.
When we reached the hospital, no medical staff took any necessary action to treat both of them immediately. My husband's knees were badly injured and bleeding. My son's head was bleeding from a deep cut. Both of them were bleeding profusely from head to toe and were in a state of shock.
At the hospital, there was neither a stretcher nor a wheelchair for them to lie down on or to sit.
The staff member who was registering their personal details into her computer system was having a hard time printing the form because her printer was not working. She was constantly removing the carbon printer and reloading it.
Eventually, she could not give me the form and told me to take my husband and my son to the consultation room where both of them had to walk to the other end of the emergency ward.
In the consultation room, I told the nurse to attend to them immediately as it was already an hour since the accident happened and I was afraid they may get infected. However, the nurse said she did not have the documents and she had to wait for these to arrive at her counter.
After making some loud demands to the staff, they finally gave my husband and son anti-infection jabs.
Eventually, the UMMC staff asked both of them to go to another room to clean their wounds. That was another room away from the consultation room. By now my husband and son had walked a full circle from the emergency entrance in their bloody condition.
Finally when we got to the other room, there was a woman who was chatting away with a man in the room. She just looked at my husband and son and was not bothered to ask anything nor attend to them until I told her to clean their wounds and do the necessary.
She just looked at me and continued talking with the man. When I asked her who would be attending to my husband and son she said, "Ya lah, nak buat lah ini " and took her own sweet time putting on her gloves while still chatting with the man.
A few minutes later, another man came and had the same lackadaisical attitude. He did not attend to my husband and son either. Both the UMMC staff members were talking about irrelevant things and did not seem to be bothered to attend to the two bleeding patients sitting in the room.
An hour gone since we arrived at the hospital and nothing was done. I therefore had no choice but to rush them to another hospital in a friend's car.
In a moment of anguish and not knowing the extensive of the injuries, we needed the assistance of the medical staff to help us, but what we experienced was lackadaisical attitude. The staff at the UMMC emergency ward had no sense of urgency or commitment to attend to the two seriously injured people.
Is it not mandatory for hospital staff to provide emergency medical care to accident victims, without waiting for formalities? Isn't it essential that an accident victim is treated immediately and initial stabilisation is the single most important factor to be provided to prevent permanent injury?
The UMMC staff members may have seen worse cases, but they should treat every case that comes into the emergency ward with urgency, immaterial whether it is life threatening or not.
Please note that the injuries sustained by my husband and son were not minor. Both of them required multiple stitches for the injuries sustained and some have left permanent damage.
The accident itself was traumatic for me and my family but the experience at the UMMC in Kuala Lumpur was a bigger trauma.
Meanwhile, I would like to thank each person who was at the scene of the accident in Brickfields who helped my husband and son and also to those who offered to take us to the hospital in their car before the ambulance arrived.
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1 comment:
My 3 month old daughter was admitted at the same hospital and I never want to go back here. The specialist comes to see her and tells me that they have to take blood and urine sample. BUT the urine has to be taken by a catheter because it should not be contaminated. I said I want to be in the room and he says ok. At 12.30am when my child is asleep a trainee doctor comes in and says he will do it. First he pokes my daughter 9 times and say he can't finad her veins. Finally he get it and presses her leg really hard so that the blood comes out. After this he uses the catheter to insert into her bladder and pokes it in about times and says he can't get in and asked the nurse whether she wants to give a try. What the hell - this is my child who has very high fever and you are trying to do the procedure. Why couldn't the specialist do it. Why do they use my daughter as a guinea pig. What if i was not in that room and did not ask him to stop. The next day I manage to make her urine into a cuo without contaminating the urine sample and she smile while urinating. WHY DID THEY TORTURE HER???? This policy where parents are not supposed to be with their kid should be BANNED. If I was not in that room the trainee would go on until he got in....Suzanne 012-6610769
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