Recently, a parent in Hangzhou posted that her 6-year-old daughter was stung by a swarm of wasps while walking in the community in the evening. Her hands and feet were injured in many places. However, she went to multiple departments of a community hospital and three tertiary hospitals from 6:30 pm that day, but they were not treated on the grounds of “no dermatology emergency at night”, “no children’s medicine”, “out of the scope of diagnosis and treatment”, etc. It took more than 2 hours for the child to get treatment in the fifth hospital, Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. On June 19, the child’s parents told the reporter of Upstream News (reporting email: baoliaosy@163.com) that they had complained to the local health department. The Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission stated that the problems reported by the parents would be reported to the relevant departments for research.
It took more than 2 hours to go to 5 hospitals before she got treatment
Ms. Yu, who lives in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, told Upstream News that the incident happened at around 6:30 pm on May 26. She was walking in the community with her child. The child was curious and approached a stone to take a look. Who knew there was a hornet’s nest there? She was immediately attacked by a swarm of hornets and was stung seven or eight times on her hands and feet. “It was relatively close to the community hospital at the time, and we arrived within 15 minutes. The child was stung quite painfully, and we thought it would be better to treat it urgently, but the emergency doctor at the community hospital said that it could not be treated and it was best to send her to Zhejiang Second Hospital (the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine) for treatment.”
Ms. Yu immediately took her daughter to Zhejiang Second Hospital. “After much difficulty, we saw a surgeon, who said that there was no equipment to remove the thorn, and that in this case, an injection was needed to prevent allergies, but the dosage for children could not be confirmed, so we were advised to go to the Provincial Children’s Health Care Center (Children’s Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University School of Medicine) for treatment. Because this is the No. 1 children’s hospital in the province, we immediately went to the Provincial Children’s Health Care Center again, but the emergency doctor of this hospital said that this condition needed to be treated by the dermatology department, but there was no dermatology emergency at night. The Third Municipal Hospital (Hangzhou Third People’s Hospital) had a dermatology emergency at night, so we were asked to go to the Third Municipal Hospital as soon as possible.”
“Then we went to the Third Municipal Hospital, and the emergency dermatologist said that this was not something that the dermatology department could treat, but it was a surgical matter. We were already very anxious at the time, and we asked at least to take a look and urgently remove the thorn, but he said no.” Ms. Yu said that the nurse at the front desk asked the surgeon, who said that this was a snake and insect specialist, and asked them to go to the Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Hangzhou Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) to see the snake and insect surgery department. “When we arrived at the Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it was already around 9:20 p.m., and the child was treated.”
“The doctor said there was no sting, and then used anti-allergic drugs, did a full set of blood tests, and asked the child to drink a lot of water. Later we saw that some blood and urine indicators were abnormal.” The outpatient medical records of Hangzhou Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine provided by Ms. Yu showed that the child was diagnosed with “bee sting, toxic erythema, myocardial damage.”
“I was observed in the hospital until the second day, and did a full set of blood tests. The relevant indicators were declining. The doctor said that the child was out of danger. The corresponding ointment was applied to the wound, and it returned to normal a week later.” Ms. Yu said.
Municipal Health Commission: Will report to the relevant departments
After Ms. Yu posted her relevant experience online, it attracted the attention of netizens. Some people asked why she didn’t call 120 directly? Ms. Yu explained: “I had the impression that 120 was only needed for serious illnesses. I initially thought that wasp stings needed to be treated as soon as possible, and it would be faster for me to drive directly there. Later, I realized that this matter was so difficult.”
Ms. Yu believes that in the face of relatively common emergencies such as wasp stings, the first four hospitals that received the patient failed to provide basic emergency treatment, such as wound washing and preliminary anti-allergic measures. In addition, wasp stings may cause anaphylactic shock and multiple organ failure. These three hospitals refused to receive the patient on the grounds of “no emergency department”, “no children’s medicine” and “exceeding the scope of diagnosis and treatment”. Is there a problem of insufficient resources for night shift emergency specialists and an imperfect referral connection mechanism? Ms. Yu said that she had recently complained to the “Zheli Office” and the Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission.
On June 19, a reporter from Upstream News asked the Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission about this matter. The staff said that they had received complaints from parents and communicated with them. “Recently, due to the news of Hainan tourists being bitten by snakes, we have done relevant publicity and publicized the list of institutions in the city that have snake venom serum. Parents have suggested that the treatment of poisonous insects such as wasps should also be taken seriously. We will report this situation to the relevant departments.”
The Yuhang District Health and Health Bureau, where Ms. Yu’s family first went to the community hospital, said that the emergency quality control center has contacted relevant experts from Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital to conduct snake and insect bite treatment training this Friday. The training targets are mainly emergency physicians, specialist nurses and general practitioners of community health service centers in various district hospitals.
Ms. Yu said that her complaint on “Zheliban” was also responded to by Hangzhou Third People’s Hospital. The hospital said: “According to our hospital’s reward and punishment regulations, we will give a warning talk and report to the department director for handling. In the future, our hospital will optimize the reception process for such diseases, strengthen relevant business training, and improve patients’ medical experience.”
According to Metropolis Express, since the beginning of this year, Hangzhou firefighters have helped residents remove nearly 600 beehives, especially since May, when there have been more requests for help in dealing with beehives. Firefighters also reminded that if you find a beehive at home or nearby, do not dispose of it yourself to avoid being stung. Ms. Yu told Upstream News that the wasp nest that stung her daughter had been cleared by the community property.
Experts: Wasp stings should be treated within 6 hours as much as possible
According to relevant experts from the Emergency Medicine Department of the Southwest Hospital of the Army Medical University, wasp stings refer to the release of toxins after the wasp’s tail sting pierces the human skin, causing poisoning. In essence, it is biological toxin poisoning, causing allergic reactions and direct toxic effects. Within 24 hours after the sting, the key points of treatment can be simplified to “4 twos”, namely “two early”, “two anti-“, “two elements” and “two chemical”, and try to complete it within 6 hours, also known as the golden “6 hours” for the treatment of wasp stings.
Among them, “two early” refers to early assessment and early treatment. Early assessment refers to early assessment of the total number of stinging skin lesions (indirectly reflecting the number of stinging wasps and the amount of venom) and the presence of allergic reactions. No urine or tea-colored urine within 6 hours indicates the possibility of early kidney damage and acute hemolysis.
Early treatment refers to flushing the wound (there is no venom gland residue after wasp stings, there is no stinger in the wound, and the venom is alkaline, which can be washed with weak acidic liquids, such as vinegar. Bee stings have stings and the venom is acidic, which can be washed with weak alkaline liquids, such as soapy water or 2%-3% sodium bicarbonate solution); cold compresses and medication (local cold compresses within 24-48 hours to relieve swelling and pain. Grind 20 Ji Desheng tablets into a paste and apply them evenly around the wound to relieve swelling and pain symptoms); referral (for those with more than 10 stings, hemolysis and rhabdomyolysis will occur within 6-24 hours, and early safe referral to a medical unit with advanced life support and blood purification).
