My daughter, carrying her skipping rope down the steep, narrow staircase, took a tumble. I heard the sickening, rolling thud-thud-thud and saw her land, on her head, on the last step, stopped only by the wall. For an agonisingly slow moment there was quiet and stillness. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do. I let out a scream. She started crying. And soon she was in my arms, her face smeared with blood but her neck mercifully unbroken.
I went through the typical panicky stages.
She can't be hurt.
She must be hurt. Or worse.
She's alive!
Call an ambulance!
No, don't call an ambulance, she can move, she's alert, nothing's broken... we can take her to hospital ourselves.
Does she need the hospital now? A doctor tomorrow?
Who can we ask?
Thankfully, in the UK, NHS Direct operates a 24-hour telephone advice line. A quick Google search brought up the number, 0845 4647. And, despite the web page's warnings that it might take a while before someone could address our inquiry (due to swine flu-related increased call volume), an assessment of my daughter's state began immediately. A nurse asked detailed questions and was able to advise what to check for, and where to take her if she displayed any of a list of symptoms of serious injury.
For a person new to the area, the country, and the British medical system (and especially such a person in a panic), this phone service is an absolute godsend. Without it, I would have been forced to choose between calling emergency services on 999 or the Europe-wide number, 112 (and potentially wasting ambulance time and resources), or just sitting at home praying she would be all right until I could find a doctor the next day, not knowing what to do or look out for in the meantime. Not a good range of options!
We are, at least, registered with a GP, and my daughter has been assigned a child health visitor, who, last week, conducted a 3-year-old development check. We've also been assigned NHS numbers and so are part of the system, and therefore much more prepared for illness and emergency than we were for a long time in Germany. (If you have relocated to or within the UK and need to search for a GP, dentist, pharmacy or other health services, this NHS services search page may help.)
In Germany, I didn't take good care of my health because I didn't have a doctor. It all seemed too hard. Finding a doctor I could communicate with was tricky, and making appointments with the receptionist was even trickier. I neglected myself because it was easier, that's the honest truth. And then one Sunday morning, around 4 or 5 am, I woke up quite suddenly ill, and had no idea where to go or who to see. I didn't even know where the nearest hospital was, apart from one that only took outpatients during business hours, Monday-Friday. I had no idea who to call, no idea what to say to anyone if I did call, and generally... no idea. It took a couple of hours to work out where I could go for treatment for a condition too urgent to leave untreated for another day and a half, but not urgent enough to be ambulance-worthy.
And now that I'm here in the UK, I'm thinking I really should go to the GP... but I need about 4 appointments just to cover all the aspects of my health that I've neglected. So I put it off a bit longer, because it all seems like such hard work. I just don't know where to start.
One thing I should do, though, is learn some First Aid, so I'm better prepared for my daughter's next emergency. Yes. I really, really should. I'll add it to my list of Things to Do in Order to Become a Less Bad Mother.
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