Shanksteps #88
It is sometimes the simple things that kill. The child came in last night. He was about 6 months of age. The nurse admitted the child and on exam found it to have crackles in the lungs and a low oxygen. He treated the child for malaria and pneumonia with nearly correct dosages. This morning was Sabbath morning. So as I got home at around 11PM I was trying to sleep in. I heard Allah …. Allah…. Chanting outside my house. A blind Muslim boy and his friend were outside my door begging. Theydid not speak any French or English. Just chanted with their metal bowl outstretched. I know they are taught to beg and I dislike that. But I also learned recently that they are dropped off by their parents to the Imam (Muslim teacher) to survive only by begging. So this morning unlike before I gave them some peanuts. I understand that the cash they get they are to take back to the Imam. So I was awake. Then they called me to see someone at the hospital. So I went in and evaluated the abdominalmass and found, palpable stool. Just a thin person with the mass being stool in the intestines that was palpable. On leaving the ward I stopped by the ER. The nurse told me about the child that had come in the night before. I listened and heard a very few crackles on one lobe. The oxygen was good with oxygen running so I asked the nurse to talk off he oxygen and monitor the blood oxygen (SAT) and restart the oxygen if the child dropped below the normal level. I thought everyone was aware howto do this simple act. Not the case. So he took off the oxygen, without monitoring the blood level. This afternoon after church I checked in again. The child was dead. Five minutes after being taken off he died. The nurse was going to recheck the oxygen at 10 minutes instead of monitoring it continuously. I physically cannot monitor everything and at times leave things to different people because I feel they are up to the task. To be sadly disappointed at times like this one. I am verysad because I think this death could have been avoided if I had taken 10 minutes of my time just to make sure the oxygen was all right. I gained 10 minutes and lost a child’s life today. Lord, forgive me! Give me more wisdom on how to treat your children here in Cameroon better than I do.
Greg
Shanksteps #88