This article is from page 40 of the 2013-12-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 40 JPG
THE parents of a three-year-old boy, who waited for hours in Accident and Emergency at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick with a head wound in June, told The Clare People that it was the longest, most stressful time of their lives.
Little Colm Murrihy, who was four years old in July, waited for five hours to have his head wound glued and dressed, while blood seeped through the interim first aid bandage his father Leslie had treated him with.
Mother Elaine said she was frustrated and annoyed by the Sunday evening wait but most of all she was worried as the wound continued to bleed. “He was losing so much blood. The bandage was thick and it was still coming through it,” said Elaine from Ennis.
Colm had been playing on his toy car at his grandparent’s house in Kilmihil on Sunday afternoon last when he stopped a bit too suddenly and went over the top of his car. The adventurous toddler landed on his head, resulting in a deep cut on his forehead.
“I had first-aid experience so I knew it was a deep cut. I bandaged it up and we drove to the A & E in Limerick,” said Mr Murrihy.
A while after registering at the hospital Mrs Murrihy accompanied the wounded toddler through to triage to be assessed. There began the mother’s first cause for concern as the bandage was not removed and the wound assessed by the nurse.
“I was just asked about what happened but no one looked at the cut. I was told we would probably be waiting a while. I was expecting an hour or two,” she said.
After a while spent back out in the waiting room the blood began to seep through the home-made bandage, causing the parents of two to worry. Mrs Murrihy said she asked that the little boy be seen so that the bandage could at least be changed but said she was told that was not necessary, as the blood “was not dripping”.
“I was very worried, and as we waited we could see people who came in after us being taken in. They had wounds to arms and legs but I was really worried because Colm had a head injury,” she said.