Admitting Children into the RC

Just thought I'd go through explaining the process of admitting a child into the Rescue Center. Today Yolande Pierre came through the clinic. Her Dad brought her because she is swollen. He did not understand why she was swollen. Her mom stayed home with her 3 siblings.

Benita, one of the nurses in the clinic mostly takes the infant/children patients that come through clinic... Usually the parent does not come with the intention of leaving their child at the RC. Many of them do not know their kid is sick because of malnutrition. Benita always educates the patients on why the child is malnourished- and if he/she has kwash, what makes them swell up. There are handouts passed out informing the parent of what kind of foods are best to prevent this (foods with high protein) and finds out their history... if she thinks all the parent needs is time to get back on their feet, or if the child will die if they aren't admitted, Benita talks to the parent about the RC. She tells them it would be a temporary placement for their child to heal and that once they are healthy that they will be sent home. If the parent agrees to leaving their kid with us Benita comes and gets one of us. After seeing the child and questioning the parent we either admit the kid or have Benita talk to the parent about how they can help their child get well. This decision usually depends on how much space there is in the RC, how bad the kid is, and the situation/attitude of the parents. If we think the kid isn't that bad and that education was enough for the parent to be able to care for the kid usually we hold off on taking them right away. They are always told to return if their child doesn't get better or gets even worse. If the child is bad enough to admit we take pictures of the kid, and pics of whoever brought them and then take them to the RC where Riclane, the head of the day shift in the RC admits them.

There is a form with any/all info we would need about the child (full name/DOB/hometown/cell number of parents/# of siblings etc) and the parents are told to come visit their kid often. Once that is done the child is bathed and officially "in." :) Most of the kids have a hard time adjusting at first (duh) but within a couple days to a week are smiling and happy.