KMC Hospital Mangaluru Holds ‘Teddy Bear Clinic’ at ELC
Mangaluru: The Department of Paediatrics, KMC Hospital Attavar held the first of its kind “Teddy Bear Clinic”, at the Early Learning Centre (ELC) at Kapikad, Bejai here on March 21.
Children from ELC brought their teddy bears to the clinic. This is the first of its kind clinic started by KMC hospital Attavar to create awareness among children about the procedures they undergo in Hospitals.
MD Emergency Medicine Dr Jeedhu Radhakrishnan from KMC Hospital speaking to mangalorean.com said, “It is basically a Teddy Bear Clinic. Through this clinic, we are trying to break the anxiety among children who come to the hospital. Most of the time children are afraid to go to the hospital which is a cause for worry to treat children during the time of emergency”.
Dr Jeedhu Radhakrishnan further said, “We had asked the school authorities to inform the children to bring their teddy bear to the school. So today they have brought their Teddy bears which will be checked by them acting like a doctor. With this, they get used to the normal instruments like Stethoscope, torch, injection syringe etc. We are trying to bring awareness among children on the procedures in hospitals. We also have a short session of taking the sick teddy bears to the ambulance and hospital. This practice is to improve the pre-hospital care. How children respond before going to the hospital and to emergencies is important. In India, this is the first of its kind clinic for children and in the coming days we will organize such clinics in other schools too.”
Speaking to mangalorean.com Associate Professor Department of Paediatrics Dr Sowmini Kamath said, “This session is very interesting for the children, in the beginning, children were hesitant but when we involved them to check the BP and temperature of the Teddy bear, they reacted well and now they are actively taking part. They bring their favourite Teddy to the clinic. First, they register the names of their Teddy bears and then take them to the clinic. There they check the temperature and BP etc. Some kids came with the complaint that their teddies had ice-cream and were suffering from stomach pain. One child said that her Teddy gets hiccups. We see a lot of difference in the children and they are very curious to treat their teddy bear.”
Speaking to mangalorean.com School administrator Poornima said, “Two months ago Dr Jeedhu approached us and informed us of holding the Teddy Bear Clinic. We were very excited about this new concept. We came to the campus and informed the children that the classrooms will be converted into multi-specialty clinics and children will get their own teddy bears. We also informed the parents and they were very much excited about it. Today all the children have come with their favourite Teddy bears. Children are very much excited to treat their Teddy bears and one child said that her Teddy gets hiccups which is a new disease we heard from the child. We are very thankful to KMC Hospital Attavar for holding this unique clinic at our campus.”