The parents of one-year-old Declan Campbell are still reeling after a mistake made at Nepean Hospital in Sydney’s west, almost cost their baby his life.
Following a fall from his cot, Declan’s mother, Jessica Newsome, noticed a growing lump on her child’s head and the concerned mum rushed her baby to the emergency department of Nepean Hospital.
According to 9NEWS, hospital staff who first saw Declan told Ms Newsome that her son needed a CT scan, for which he would need to be sedated. The sedation was routine for someone of Declan’s young age before a CT scan.
And that’s when a Doctor’s mistake changed everything.
Declan’s bump. (Image credit: 9News)
Declan was accidentally injected with “12mg of intravenous Suxamethonium instead of administering 12mg of Ketamine,” according to his discharge papers.
As soon as the injection had been administered, Ms Newsome new there was something wrong.
“He was just limp. He was just nothing. He went straight pale. I said to the doctor ‘something’s wrong’. He just picked the kid up and ran,” she told 9News.
Jessica Newsome, Declan Campbell and Blake Campbell, Declan’s farther.
Declan apparently stopped breathing for 90 seconds, but was discharged later seemingly fine. The hospital reports that it met with the family the day of the incident and apologised.
“While the baby was in the emergency department, the treating doctor apologised for the mistake and provided full disclosure, explaining to the parents what had happened and a social worker provided support to the parents,” Nepean Hospital’s director of medical services explained in a statement to 9NEWS.
“The baby recovered and the Hospital will implement the recommendations of the review to prevent the mistake from happening again.”
The family and hospital are due to meet again in two weeks.
Nepean Hospital has suffered a string of dramas in the last few years, notable in 2016 it was reported the hospital deleted a ten-year-old’s health records (along with the records of 151 other children) before an inquest into his sudden death.
With a multi-million dollar upgrade currently in the works, hopefully the hospital will be given the upgrades it needs to avoid future mistakes.
