Mother Outraged by Daughter's Hospital Treatment in Kurgan

Kurgan resident Yekaterina Parmenova has voiced complaints about the medical care provided to her 11-year-old daughter. The city resident«s dissatisfaction stems from the ambulance»s response time, confusion over flu tests, and how the child was treated at an infectious diseases hospital. Details and the health department«s response are in the 45.RU report.

According to Yekaterina Parmenova, her daughter became ill at school on 25 November: the girl began vomiting. The situation was complicated by the fact that throughout the year, the girl had experienced hemoptysis (coughing up blood) due to health problems the family has been trying to resolve at hospitals in several Russian cities.

»I took her temperature at home; it showed 39°C (102.2°F). I immediately called a paramedic from the children«s clinic on Koli Myagotina Street. She arrived, examined her, prescribed an antiviral medication, and said that someone would come tomorrow to take a flu swab. On 25 November, by evening, my daughter got worse, her temperature rose. I gave her a pill, and she vomited again. Presumably due to the high fever. I called an ambulance. They arrived (by that time the child»s temperature had subsided), the medical staff stayed with us, checked the child«s condition, measured her temperature with their own thermometer, gave recommendations, and offered to go to the infectious diseases hospital. I refused because I thought I could handle the child»s temperature spikes myself. The ambulance left. On 26 November, a woman came, took a swab, then called back and said: the flu test was negative,« the source told 45.RU.

That day, her daughter»s temperature continued to rise. The mother tried to help on her own, but in the evening decided to take the girl to the Red Cross Hospital for admission.

«At the Red Cross Hospital, my daughter was diagnosed with »tonsillitis« and told that, according to a Ministry of Health order, they do not have the right to admit a child for hospitalization if they have been ill for less than five days. There was also a recommendation to go to the infectious diseases hospital if her condition worsened. By evening, the child»s temperature rose to 40°C (104°F), and considering the diagnosis, I bought the missing medications. The pills brought the temperature down, and the night passed calmly.

On the morning of 27 November, Yekaterina took her daughter«s temperature again.

»The thermometer showed 37.8°C (100°F). I thought, okay, maybe we«ve finally beaten the fever. While taking my other child to kindergarten, literally 20–25 minutes passed, I decided to measure the temperature again. I look at the thermometer — 41.7°C (107.1°F). I started panicking, called an ambulance, and simultaneously began trying to bring the fever down, lowering it to 39.8°C (103.6°F). Looking at the time, I realized I might not wait for the ambulance at all, as more than 45 minutes had already passed. I got the child ready and simultaneously called a taxi. I went outside, called the ambulance dispatch, and asked where they were. Half a minute later, she said the ambulance had been dispatched. I asked where from and how long it would take. No answer came. I asked sharply why it was taking so long. The dispatcher hung up. In the end, we went by taxi; two ambulances passed us, then they called me and asked why we weren»t answering, as the ambulance had arrived at our place. I replied that I couldn«t wait over an hour, and the paramedic hung up.

Yekaterina and her daughter arrived at the infectious diseases hospital. According to the mother, they did not admit the girl.

»They did not see clear signs or symptoms for hospitalization because the child«s temperature had subsided. I asked them to explain the treatment to me so I could help my child and avoid her vomiting reflexes. I got no answer. They took two flu swabs from my daughter; both were negative. Then my daughter vomited right there in the admissions department. A staff member went with the discharge papers from the Red Cross Hospital about tonsillitis, consulted with someone, returned and spoke of a suspected flu, noting that my daughter did not have tonsillitis. The child was admitted; in my presence, they called the ward and asked who was in room 11, they were told: people with flu are there. And since my daughter was suspected of having flu, she would be placed in that room. I agreed. On the 27th, my daughter was admitted; on the 28th, her temperature rose during the day, she was given antiviral and antipyretic medications. PCR tests for COVID and flu were also done; the COVID result was negative, the flu result simply never came.

On Saturday, 29 November, Yekaterina called her daughter to check on her condition. At that time, the doctor on duty was doing rounds.

»I asked the doctor about my child«s PCR test for flu. She asked why we hadn»t asked the attending physician. I explained that on the slip I was given, the time slot for calling the doctor was from 12:00 to 13:00. I called during that time and was told the result would be ready by 3–4 p.m. I didn«t call again, then a negative result (for COVID) arrived by email. She flipped through the chart, said there was a negative test for COVID, no result for flu, and suggested calling on Monday and asking the attending physician.

I asked, on what basis is my child then in a room with patients with confirmed PCR tests for flu? To which I was told that ARVI and flu are the same thing, suggesting I not cause a fuss. I then began speaking in a raised voice, emphasizing that I was giving them 20 minutes to find out if my child has flu or not. If not, she needs to be moved. At that point, the conversation ended. They hung up on me. I admit my own fault,» Yekaterina emphasized.

A little later, her daughter called and said she was being moved to another room. The girl began being treated for a viral infection. Yekaterina Parmenova was unhappy with how medical care was being provided to her daughter. The woman decided to take her daughter home and treat her herself, providing 45.RU with a recording of the conversation with the doctor.

Yekaterina is now treating her daughter at home; the child«s temperature remains at 37–38°C (98.6–100.4°F), and she has a slight internal cough. The mother has booked the child for an appointment with a paid pediatrician for examination and tests to determine the cause of the girl»s condition.

«I would like to know when they will start giving proper attention to sick children and how long such negligent treatment will continue?» the 45.RU source asked.

Response from the Department of Health of the Kurgan Region

Yekaterina published her story on social media. Representatives of the Zauralsky region«s Department of Health (depzdrav) responded to her, stating they had conducted an internal review.

»Explanatory statements have been requested from the medical workers, and a recording of the telephone conversation has been reviewed. It was established that on 27 November, a call with the reason «high temperature in a child» was received at the emergency medical service dispatch point. The information provided did not indicate the presence of any life-threatening symptoms. According to current regulatory documents, the reason for a call «high temperature» is categorized as urgent.

The time for an ambulance crew to reach a patient when providing care in an urgent form should not exceed 120 minutes from the moment of the call, regardless of distance. In this case, the ambulance crew arrived at the call 1 hour and 2 minutes after the call was received, which complies with established standards. No violations by the members of the mobile ambulance crew were identified,« the department noted.

The Department of Health added that upon arrival at the specified address, the ambulance crew found that the patient was not present. The department advises that if there are questions about the quality of medical care, to contact the hospital»s head doctor or the department itself.

45.RU has sent a request to the Department of Health of the Kurgan Region asking for comment on the situation described by Yekaterina Parmenova. If a response is received, we will certainly publish it.