Six-month-old Weston was fast succumbing to infection in a hospital waiting room when his parents saw a poster that they have no doubt saved his life. For several days his mother, Brittany McDaniel, and father, Zack Tyndall, had been sent home or made to wait after being told the rash devouring his face was an allergic reaction or a bad case of eczema.
But as his eyes rolled back into his head, Weston's parents couldn't wait any longer. That was the moment last October when Tyndall saw a poster explaining "Ryan's rule". Once invoked, it would summon a senior clinician for a second opinion.
The panicked father dialled the number on the poster and a paediatric doctor arrived within minutes. McDaniel said the clinician took one look at her baby and instantly recognised that Weston was suffering from staphylococcus scalded skin syndrome. Finally, Weston was administered antibiotics to fight his infection.
Asked what she thinks would have happened had Ryan's rule not existed, McDaniel did not need to wait until the question was finished. "Weston would not be here," she said. "One hundred per cent, he would not be here. We are so grateful, beyond belief, for Ryan's rule. That saved his life."
Weston's ordeal, first reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, took place in Caboolture, about 40km from Brisbane. But the principle that patients and parents who believe their concerns are not being taken seriously are entitled to a second medical opinion could soon apply in England too.
Steve Barclay, the UK health secretary, last week cited Ryan's rule as a measure shown to have saved lives, as ministers consider introducing a similar approach in England, which would be known as "Martha's rule".
Thirteen-year-old Martha Mills died in 2021 after developing sepsis while under the care of King's College hospital NHS foundation trust in London.
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の September 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の September 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0
THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.
New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?
DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.
Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?
'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"
Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland
Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Trump's return is bleak for America and the world
This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.
Flower Power
Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice
When adult children cut the cord
Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best
Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping
In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".
The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare
It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.
Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton
Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves
