I'm having a wound dressing checked tomorrow at a medical clinic. I sustained a nasty burn to my stomach when I spilled a big cup of hot tea a couple of weeks ago. I dashed home and got in the shower and played cool water over the affected area for 20 minutes then tried to relax but the pain as too much and I headed for the ER dept at a regional hospital. Three hours after arrival, a doctor saw me and treated the area with a gel of some kind and put a waterproof dressing over it, telling me I'd be OK in three days, with instructions on how to reapply the dressing in the interim if needed.
Three days later I had NOT recovered. It was very painful and easily irritated. I replaced the dressing as instructed and a couple of days later observed bleeding leaking out of the dressing. Straight to the GP's clinic.
He and the practice nurse were appalled at the type of treatment I'd received, the use of the gel, they said, was something prevalent 30 years ago but had no place in modern wound care.
After cleaning up the discharge and mopping up the blood, they disinfected the area, placed a piece of glycerine-infused gauze over the area, adding an absorbent pad and another waterproof dressing. They also said I should have been instructed to get the dressing chanced at their clinic rather than doing it myself. This was Tuesday last week. I came back on Friday and the dressing was redone as a dry one, no waterproof covering. My skin was reacting badly to the adhesive used on the waterproof dressing, this is related to my compromised immune system.
There's still some pain but now some itching as well, it's [possible the new skin underneath or ready to reveal itself.
I'm very annoyed at the poor standard of care received at the ER, that place has really gone downhill. Seven years ago was a different story, I was presented there via ambulance with shivering, confusion and unsteady walking, the (correctly) determined I was afflicted by sepsis which could have been fatal if I'd been six hours late in getting treatment. They rapidly diagnose the problem and got me stabilised over the next 12 hours before being transferred to another hospital.