Urgent Care

Recently, one of the other residents called me in to help out with a laceration repair on a 3-year-old boy. It was a small cut on his chin, and she had already numbed it up, but she needed some help holding him down. We have a tool called a Papoose, whic is a straight jacket with a bowling pin shaped hard plastic surface – it straps down the child’s body, his arms, and his head, but is really no match for a strong 3-year-old who wants to move his head. We put him in the Papoose, I leaned over him to hold down his face, and the other resident draped his face.

Like all children, he did not like having his face covered, and he began to object. He started with the simple:

“No
Stop
Get me up”

Then:
“I’m going to pee on y’all”

I had no doubt that he would. She started to put in the stitches, which he not seem to particularly notice compared to the trauma of being held down. He continued to call out, moving through the other phrases toddlers say:

“All done
All done
Bye-bye
Bye-bye”

Then the most heartbreaking for me, also common:

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, I’m sorry”

Meanwhile, his brother and father lounged in the corner, laughing at “the little man”, and telling him to be quiet. He continued through several more rounds of the above phrases for about five minutes, as my co-resident finished the repair. Finally, though, it was too much, and he brought out the last tool:

“GET THESE MOTHER-FUCKERS OFF OF ME”

I was impressed that it took so long for the big guns. Such restraint for a 3-year-old.