Add Category
The father of a one-year-old girl who had a button battery lodged in her throat for at least 28 hours said he would rather "sleep on the street" and have his daughter looked after in Brisbane than return to Mackay Base Hospital.
Key points:
- Amity's parents took her to the hospital on Monday but were unable to stay due to a lack of beds
- A private GP sent them back for an X-ray, which revealed the one-year-old had swallowed a button battery
- It was lodged in her oesophagus for 28 hours, during which time it caused a burn of up to 8 centimetres
Amity Buchanan was on Monday taken to Mackay Base Hospital via ambulance after her parents noticed what they described as an unusual vomit and whistle-like noise after each breath.
"There were no beds in the hospital … I got dropped off and asked if I could see my partner and my daughter," her father Daniel Buchanan said.
"They said they didn't have a bed … so you can't go in and see them.
"My partner came out 20 minutes later and said, 'Bub's got checked with a stethoscope' and that was it."
The couple initially suspected their child had swallowed a bean bag polystyrene ball, but could not tell the doctor for certain.
Amity continued to vomit and cry overnight.
"You could just hear in her voice. It wasn't a normal spew. She was in agony," Mr Buchanan said.
A trip to a private GP had the family sent back to the emergency department where an X-ray found Amity had swallowed a button battery.
She is now in an induced coma at Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane.
Hospital to review presentation
Mackay Base Hospital chief operations officer Sharon Walsh said the health service was reviewing Amity's presentation.
"Information provided to the hospital was that a polystyrene bean had been swallowed and this would not have shown up in an X-ray," she said.
"We do not routinely perform medical imaging on children who have swallowed a radio transparent foreign body if their clinical presentation is normal.
"As always, we ask patients to re-present if they develop new symptoms or their condition deteriorates."
Family wanted 'action straight away'
Mr Buchanan said when they finally received an X-ray that showed the button battery, the family were sent back to the waiting room.
"The doctor that was seeing her showed us the list of patients he had on his computer screen and said, 'You are all the way down here. You are finally getting seen now because we've put you ahead because you keep demanding'," he said.
"They should have taken action straight away. You don't need to be a medical person to understand — everyone knows how harmful [button batteries] are for you."
About 45 minutes after being sent back to the waiting room, a flight was organised for Amity and her mother, Jemma Gultzow, to go to Townsville.
The flight arrived at about 7:30pm Tuesday and one-year-old Amity went straight into surgery.
By that stage, the deadly button battery had been in her system for at least 28 hours.
"They got it out with a couple of complications. Her oesophagus was burnt 7 to 8 centimetres," Mr Buchanan said.
Battery removed from key fob
Mr Buchanan said he found an open car key fob at home. He said he had received "nasty comments online" asking what the button battery was "doing lying around".
"It wasn't lying around," he said.
"It was in a key in one of the drawers in our walk-in wardrobe.
"They key was shut but somehow it must have been loose or something and she's managed to get it open."
Batteries can cause deadly reaction
Consuming button batteries causes an internal chemical reaction that can kill.
In Noosa during 2013, four-year-old Summer Steer unfortunately became the first child to die in Australia from swallowing a button battery.
Kidsafe Queensland chief executive Susan Teers said about 20 Australian children presented to an emergency department each month after swallowing a button battery.
About one child every month required surgical removal.
"They're in our smoke alarms, car key fobs … the flashing reindeer noses at Christmas and those flameless candles," Ms Teers said.
"A lithium battery will start its life at about a 5-volt charge and even when it's flat, it has about a 1.3-volt charge.
"If a child swallows a fully charged lithium battery, the saliva sets up a reaction and the battery starts burning through the tissue.
"If it's a flat battery … it can still do the same thing but it might take or week or two."
New standards from June 2022 make it mandatory for all consumer goods that contain button batteries to have secure compartments.
Suppliers must also use packaging that is "child resistant" and includes safety warnings.
The standards are enforced under Australian consumer law and can result in a fine up to $10 million.
Amity to remain in hospital
Mr Buchanan said Amity was "somewhat okay" but would remain in hospital for the next four to six weeks.
"The reason she's in an induced coma is so she doesn't wake up and freak out because she's got a breathing tube and the feeding tube," he said.
"They are talking about taking the breathing tube out and waking her up later today, but we'll see how that goes."
A crowdfunding page has been set up by the family for financial support.
People who believe a child may have ingested a button battery are encouraged to call the NSW Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26.
"They will triage you and then direct you to the nearest hospital," Ms Teers said.