Worst thing you have seen

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · May 15, 2004

Yep to the likelihood of the court returning the child. Fresh out of college, I thought I was going to make my contribution to society by working for the County Foster Care program. That lasted all of four months. A 5 year old boy who was removed from his home after his mom was sentenced to 18 months for involuntary manslaughter in the scalding death of this boy's baby brother (it happened during an alcohol induced blackout) was placed in a loving foster home and showed remarkable improvement. Then Mom was released and granted first supervised and then unsupervised visits. He would come back to the foster home crying and acting out for days. The parents agreed to put their other son, a 2 year old, up for adoption, but petitioned for reunification with this child. They got it! Absolutely unbelievable. I can't even mention all the reasons this child should *not* have been returned! I still wonder about him sometimes. That experience was plenty to convince me that I could never impact that screwed up system in any meaningful way.

Oh how absolutely right you are!!! I saw the results of some of it first-hand too when I was a school bus driver. The last 3 years were my most challenging. I had one little girl, the smallest passenger on my bus. She was absent more than she was on the bus. You could tell she was abused, and our employer told us NEVER to report child abuse to the authorities, because we didn't have the authority or the training for it.

I made up a list of all of the elementary kids, and then would rotate who got to work the bus door at both their school, and the high school. When I came to her name, I called her up by me and asked her if she would like to work the door. She looked at the handle so longingly, it touched my heart. Then she looked up at me and shook her head no, and went back to her seat. When her father met her at the bus door, he would always say, "Come on brat!" I could have hit him over the head with a club. The mother was no better. She was filthy; every time I saw her she had dirty clothes on, and her was uncombed.

Then one day as I was returning the kids home from school, I met the little girl's mother with all her kids and another adult woman leaving home. When I arrived at the house, (I always waited for the kids to try the door to see if it was locked. If it was, I took the child back to the bus company with me where the parents could be notified as to the child's whereabouts. If the door was unlocked, and having some latchkey kids on my bus, I would wait until he/she got inside the door before I left.) She got off the bus, and walked up to the door. When she reached up to turn the handle, the door opened slitely before she made contact with it, and she was let inside.:angryfire Let me tell you, I had all I could do to refrain from calling the authorities.

Not long after that, her teacher approached the bus one morning, asking if she was on. I of course told her no. She then said, "That girl! I don't know what I'm going to do with her!" I looked at her and said, (hoping she would report what I told her) "I know she is being abused." She replied, "Yes, life is tough." :uhoh21: I could not believe what I was hearing!! There she was that little girl's teacher, who was by law, ordered to report suspected child abuse, or at least send her to the nurse for an examination of her body, and did NOTHING:angryfire

I will always remember that poor little girl, and wonder if she even grew up. :crying2:

Stitchie · May 16, 2004

Oh Fran, that makes me so sad. Some parents don't realize how wonderful the gift of children really is.

I guess in some ways now that we can take action against those who allow abuse to continue in some ways protects those poor innocent children, even though it may be too late to save that little girl.

These stories just break my heart; I have to stop reading them!

redwinggirlie · Jun 9, 2004

100 percent TBSA due to suicide attempt with kerosene. No genitals, ears, eyes sealed shut, fingers hanging by charred skin and bone. The patient lasted six hours. Just terrible.

OCCHCanada · Jun 9, 2004

A 9 month pregnant 19 yo, rollover MVA. Caught under vehicle with dripping radiator fluid onto her face, neck, chest, arms. She knew her baby had died and laid there trapped for about an hour until resuced.

Baby was delivered spontaneously on route to emergency. She woke up with no lips, nose, one ear and no baby.

We all cried over that one.

vaughanmk · Jun 11, 2004

The worst one I experienced was a nine month old boy. Mom was at work and her boyfriend was getting ready for church. After his bath he set him on the bed, left the room to get clothes. When he came back the child had pooped all over himself and the bedspread. The boyfriend got so mad that the had to bathe the child again that he turned the hot water all the way on. The child ended up with full thickness burns over 50% of his body and second degree over 20%. After three months of treatment, including 4 rounds of grafting, he was realeased back to mom and the boyfriend.

The reason I know exactly how that happened was because the boyfriend admitted it to the police. The mom "just couldn't believe he could do that, the police must be lying." Therefore nothing was ever done about the case.

I cried the day we sent that baby home with his abusers. Luckily he wouldn't remember the experience but would have to live a lifetime of reconstructive surgeries to release the scar tissue as he grew up.

Lisi-LPN · Jun 14, 2004

I have seen a couple of sad cases on my floor. We (actually in the last few months) have had two people come in for Steven Johnsons related to allergic reations to meds that were considered burns. We discharged on lady in April who had been here since September because her ex-husband (maybe ex boyfriend I can't quite remember) set the house on fire killing her mentally challenged 13 yo son. she went in to save him and that gave her 80%BSA burns. I think the only places she wasn't burned was in a fold in her abdomen and well that's about it. We also have a 21 yo who was in the backseat of a car, and the driver to evade police went on a high speed chase and ended up hitting a tree. the driver and passenger died and he has 40%BSA burns to his legs. He has a girlfriend who is 6mo pregnant with their son too. Then we get dummies like this one guy who was drunk and fell into his campfire. Came in with a .41 ETOH level. :rolleyes: It is definitely an experience though. We are one of our regions only Burn Centers, we have a Burn Trauma Unit and we are the only Level 1 Trauma center so we get to see a LOT. And I am just shy of a year out of school so it's been a great learning experience.

FROGGYLEGS, LPN · Jun 14, 2004

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Jun 14, 2004

In March of 1964, our house burned to the ground.

My younger sister was in the hospital with second degree burns to her hands, and smoke inhalation for about 4 weeks. She was the fortunate one. You also would not know she had been burned.

My grandfather was found under his bed. They said he died of smoke inhalation, and my mother was burned over 40% of her body.

My mother got the worst end of the deal. She was burned over 40% of her body. There were no burn units then to my knowledge. But the family doctor who I will call, "Dr. Grunt" because he was one of the bad guys. Well anyway, he wrapped my mother in ace bandages wherever she was burned. She died at 04:00 the next morning.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2004

How awful for you Frances!!! They would not have known then about how to deal with burns properly but that sounds - well not the right treatment even for those days.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2004

The worst one I ever saw

was over 20 yrs ago, I was in ICU then. A young man had been struck with lightning. Major burns, shirt buttons melted and burned into him, the zipper melted and burned into his genitalia, brain damaged. 90 percent burns. The hosp that normally takes burns was all full and couldnt take him, so they sent him to SICU. I was the recieving RN. surgeon was with him, we were cleanining and debriding him, Then I saw a tatoo on him. He was no longer a John Doe that came in unrecognizably burnt.

He was my Brother in Law

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Jun 22, 2004

The worst one I ever saw
was over 20 yrs ago, I was in ICU then. A young man had been struck with lightning. Major burns, shirt buttons melted and burned into him, the zipper melted and burned into his genitalia, brain damaged. 90 percent burns. The hosp that normally takes burns was all full and couldnt take him, so they sent him to SICU. I was the recieving RN. surgeon was with him, we were cleanining and debriding him, Then I saw a tatoo on him. He was no longer a John Doe that came in unrecognizably burnt.
He was my Brother in Law

How horrible, Tom. Did he live? Or was he so extensively burned, he died?

Energizer Bunny · Jun 22, 2004

In March of 1964, our house burned to the ground.
My younger sister was in the hospital with second degree burns to her hands, and smoke inhalation for about 4 weeks. She was the fortunate one. You also would not know she had been burned.
My grandfather was found under his bed. They said he died of smoke inhalation, and my mother was burned over 40% of her body.
My mother got the worst end of the deal. She was burned over 40% of her body. There were no burn units then to my knowledge. But the family doctor who I will call, "Dr. Grunt" because he was one of the bad guys. Well anyway, he wrapped my mother in ace bandages wherever she was burned. She died at 04:00 the next morning.

OMG Fran! I did not know this!!! I'm so sorry. I have got to get time to read your book!