I'm looking for some advice on where to go and how to proceed after my baby was injured last week. We're not really into the claim culture, but after today's follow-up appointment it appears things are worse than we thought and we do think we need to do something now, but are not sure what. This is long - sorry, but I wanted to put everything down.
On 25th August, we were at a family restaurant near Scarborough. There were 8 of us altogether, including three children, and a baby. We ordered food for everyone, including some baby food advertised on the children's menu. When the food came, all the meals came out together and it was chaos. The baby food was put down in front of the baby, who pulled it off the table and over himself before anyone had the chance to move it out of his way. He was sitting in a high chair - one of those wooden ones that has no table (similar to the ones used in Starbucks). The pureed food went on his chest, but mostly on his feet - his left foot in particular. He began screaming, and as I wiped the food of his (bare) feet, I realised how hot the food was. As I wiped it off his left foot, the skin came away.
Almost immediately, the manager arrived and organised a bowl of cold water to put my son's foot in. We stripped him off and dribbled water over his chest too. I asked for an ambulance to be called. It was about 20 minutes later when the ambulance arrived. They wrapped his left foot and chest in cling film and we were taken to the resuscitation unit at Scarborough A&E. Once there, he was checked over and given the highest dose of morphine allowed for his weight. It was decided that he should be transferred to the specialist burns unit at Pinderfields, Wakefield. By this time, it was clear that the burn on his chest was slight and not a cause for concern.
We were transferred by ambulance to Pinderfields, where they treated his foot - cutting away the skin, bursting blisters etc, and wrapped his foot. He was given calpol and calprofen and we (baby, myself, husband) stayed overnight at the unit so they could monitor him. We were allowed to leave the next morning, and given an appointment for follow up on Thursday 29th August.
We went back to Pickering, where we were staying, to find that our other children had been taken out for the day with their Grandad, Uncle & partner and 2 cousins. Later that afternoon, it was apparent that the dressing was coming off - the top of the bandage had been nearly at knee height when it went on, and it was now just above the ankle. We called the burns unit for advice and were sent to Scarborough A&E to get it redressed, with strict instructions that the actual burn dressing must be left in place; only the bandages could be redone. This was sorted and we went back to Pickering. Next morning, the same had happened again, so we called the burns unit again and this time asked whether we could visit the local Dr surgery rather than do the almost 35 miles round trip to the hospital. This was OK, with the same proviso. The nurse at the local GP surgery found that the burns dressing had come off completely, so had to remove it and re-do, but luckily had the same kind of dressing, so was able to replicate what had been done. She put an extra bandage on and taped it to his leg to make it stay put!
After this, we re-arranged the follow up appointment for Friday 30 Aug, since the dressing did not need to be changed quite so urgently now and we could then go to the appointment on the way home from holiday. This appointment was fine - his dressings were changed and the burn checked. There were some signs of healing at the outer edges. They then arranged for the next follow-up appointment - this time at QMC as that is the nearest burns unit to where we live.
I took my son to that appointment this afternoon. The burn was washed and cleaned again and checked by the doctor. She thought that much of the burn is likely to complete the first stage of healing within another week - there are some signs of skin regrowth. One area in the middle of it is a deeper burn and is still red, angry and wet; this will take longer to heal. There are four areas - three on his toes and one on the inner side of his foot - which are full thickness burns and will take a long time to heal. None of the areas is large enough that they would consider a skin graft, but as at least 2 of the areas are over toe joints, we have been told that there may be an issue in the future as his foot grows. It might be necessary to perform an operation to release the scar tissue at some point in the future, but they can't say for sure at this early stage. In any case, we have been told that it is entirely possible that he will need some form of bandage or dressing - including pressure dressings - for at least a year. He will also require some physio and some treatment of the new skin, which we will need to see the therapy team about at some point.
So what now? We had initially thought simply to request that the restaurant chain repay our expenses, as the journeys to and from hospital are already adding up and will continue to do so - currently two visits a week (and it's a 3 hour round trip including the appointment itself). But having heard what he has ahead of him, we now wonder if we ought to seek some recompense for our son too. I have no idea where to start with this - my mind is still reeling from knowing it happened in the first place. I feel like there should be someone we should contact to report it, but I have no idea if that is the case and I'm not sure where to begin with deciding whether or how to proceed against the restaurant.
On 25th August, we were at a family restaurant near Scarborough. There were 8 of us altogether, including three children, and a baby. We ordered food for everyone, including some baby food advertised on the children's menu. When the food came, all the meals came out together and it was chaos. The baby food was put down in front of the baby, who pulled it off the table and over himself before anyone had the chance to move it out of his way. He was sitting in a high chair - one of those wooden ones that has no table (similar to the ones used in Starbucks). The pureed food went on his chest, but mostly on his feet - his left foot in particular. He began screaming, and as I wiped the food of his (bare) feet, I realised how hot the food was. As I wiped it off his left foot, the skin came away.
Almost immediately, the manager arrived and organised a bowl of cold water to put my son's foot in. We stripped him off and dribbled water over his chest too. I asked for an ambulance to be called. It was about 20 minutes later when the ambulance arrived. They wrapped his left foot and chest in cling film and we were taken to the resuscitation unit at Scarborough A&E. Once there, he was checked over and given the highest dose of morphine allowed for his weight. It was decided that he should be transferred to the specialist burns unit at Pinderfields, Wakefield. By this time, it was clear that the burn on his chest was slight and not a cause for concern.
We were transferred by ambulance to Pinderfields, where they treated his foot - cutting away the skin, bursting blisters etc, and wrapped his foot. He was given calpol and calprofen and we (baby, myself, husband) stayed overnight at the unit so they could monitor him. We were allowed to leave the next morning, and given an appointment for follow up on Thursday 29th August.
We went back to Pickering, where we were staying, to find that our other children had been taken out for the day with their Grandad, Uncle & partner and 2 cousins. Later that afternoon, it was apparent that the dressing was coming off - the top of the bandage had been nearly at knee height when it went on, and it was now just above the ankle. We called the burns unit for advice and were sent to Scarborough A&E to get it redressed, with strict instructions that the actual burn dressing must be left in place; only the bandages could be redone. This was sorted and we went back to Pickering. Next morning, the same had happened again, so we called the burns unit again and this time asked whether we could visit the local Dr surgery rather than do the almost 35 miles round trip to the hospital. This was OK, with the same proviso. The nurse at the local GP surgery found that the burns dressing had come off completely, so had to remove it and re-do, but luckily had the same kind of dressing, so was able to replicate what had been done. She put an extra bandage on and taped it to his leg to make it stay put!
After this, we re-arranged the follow up appointment for Friday 30 Aug, since the dressing did not need to be changed quite so urgently now and we could then go to the appointment on the way home from holiday. This appointment was fine - his dressings were changed and the burn checked. There were some signs of healing at the outer edges. They then arranged for the next follow-up appointment - this time at QMC as that is the nearest burns unit to where we live.
I took my son to that appointment this afternoon. The burn was washed and cleaned again and checked by the doctor. She thought that much of the burn is likely to complete the first stage of healing within another week - there are some signs of skin regrowth. One area in the middle of it is a deeper burn and is still red, angry and wet; this will take longer to heal. There are four areas - three on his toes and one on the inner side of his foot - which are full thickness burns and will take a long time to heal. None of the areas is large enough that they would consider a skin graft, but as at least 2 of the areas are over toe joints, we have been told that there may be an issue in the future as his foot grows. It might be necessary to perform an operation to release the scar tissue at some point in the future, but they can't say for sure at this early stage. In any case, we have been told that it is entirely possible that he will need some form of bandage or dressing - including pressure dressings - for at least a year. He will also require some physio and some treatment of the new skin, which we will need to see the therapy team about at some point.
So what now? We had initially thought simply to request that the restaurant chain repay our expenses, as the journeys to and from hospital are already adding up and will continue to do so - currently two visits a week (and it's a 3 hour round trip including the appointment itself). But having heard what he has ahead of him, we now wonder if we ought to seek some recompense for our son too. I have no idea where to start with this - my mind is still reeling from knowing it happened in the first place. I feel like there should be someone we should contact to report it, but I have no idea if that is the case and I'm not sure where to begin with deciding whether or how to proceed against the restaurant.
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