The patient was brought to Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital on the night of January 26 in a state of coughing, difficulty breathing and died early this morning.
On January 27 (the 6th of Tet), Mr. Tran Van Chi (Quang Ngai City, Quang Ngai province) said that his son T.D.L (3 years old) had died at the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital.
The child was admitted to the hospital because of coughing and difficulty breathing
According to Mr. Chi, around 8pm on January 26, while playing with other children, L. suddenly choked and had difficulty breathing near the location of the pumpkin seed shell. The children played together and told them to take the pumpkin seeds and put them in their mouths.
Near 9pm on the same day, L. had difficulty breathing and vomiting, so he and his wife Chi took him to Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital. When he arrived at the hospital, he informed the doctor that L. suspected of choking on pumpkin seeds. Then a young doctor came in with a medical instrument to examine the child’s throat and told the family “nothing”.
“I have said over and over once more that he has choked on pumpkin seeds and needs to have a film taken, an endoscopy to check. After a while, the medical staff took my baby to take a picture. Then the doctor watching the movie said nothing. Meanwhile, my baby still wants to vomit but can’t. My child was taken to the emergency room,” said Mr. Chi.
When L. continued to threaten to vomit, he suggested that he be transferred to Da Nang hospital, but the doctors still told the family there was no problem. Next, a doctor named Tham came to check on Chi’s son and said he had asthma, not a foreign object.
“After that, the doctor gave my child a nebulizer, his health condition improved a bit and was taken to the treatment department on the 5th floor,” he said.
At this time, L. showed pain in the neck, difficulty breathing. The patient’s family asked the medical staff to suck sputum and endoscopy in the neck to see if it was possible to choke pumpkin seeds. However, according to information from the father, the medical staff said “no one is working at the moment, will work tomorrow morning” and repeatedly asked the family to get health insurance to complete the hospital admission procedure for the child. .
At 23:00, Mr. Chi and his wife took their children to the bathroom but there was no hot water to change clothes and clean the body. After that, the family decided to take the child home to bathe because he vomited all over, and at the same time looked for a health insurance card.
In the morning of January 27, the family hired a taxi to take L. back to the hospital. The patient was taken directly to the emergency room and transferred to the intensive care unit. Here, the doctor sucks sputum and gives the patient oxygen.
According to Mr. Chi, regarding 20 minutes later, the doctor announced that the baby did not survive. The patient’s family was very upset and said that the crew was “reckless, did not check the baby sooner”.
The family refused to do an autopsy
On the side of Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital, a leader of this medical facility said that when receiving this case, the doctors gave first aid, consultation, thorough examination and took the patient to the treatment department.
“The doctor gave me nebulizer breathing, monitoring the airway. Because the child’s health was stable, the doctor explained to his family regarding the child’s situation and asked to be monitored at the hospital,” said the leader of Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital.
Around 11pm on the same day, the doctor did not see the patient. At 4 a.m. on January 27, the family took the patient back to the emergency room in a state of cyanosis, cold extremities, cardiac arrest, and unmeasured blood pressure. Doctors transferred the patient to the emergency room, intensively resuscitated, but the baby did not survive.
“The cause of the child’s death requires a forensic examination to clarify. The hospital doctors are very sad and share with the family regarding this great loss. Hospital leaders have worked with doctors and nurses on duty as well as coordinated with the police to clarify,” said the leader of Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital.
Regarding this incident, Colonel Vo Van Duong, Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Police, said that the family signed a commitment to refuse an autopsy.
“After the police worked directly with the patient’s family, the family member asked not to clarify the cause. The principle is that when the family allows surgery, we can only conclude the cause of death. Initial information, L. has a narrow breathing node, has been hospitalized several times before,” Colonel Duong said.
Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Police also said that some Facebook accounts that posted videos regarding this incident, although the truth is unknown, will also be handled according to regulations.
