4-year-old attacked by dog waits ten hours for surgery due to COVID-19 testing
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A mother reached out to KRDO after she said her 4-year-old daughter who was attacked by a dog spent ten hours waiting for surgery at local hospitals because they needed COVID-19 test results back before operating.
Alexis Pierce told us her boyfriend's dog attacked her daughter when she was giving it a hug Friday morning.
Pierce said she first drove to UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central where she and Marleigh waited for four hours, before they were taken to Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs in an ambulance. Pierce told us Marleigh had to wait another six hours in the emergency room there before getting her negative COVID-19 results back and heading to the operating room.
"Children are tested for COVID-19 prior to any surgical procedure," Children's Hospital Colorado, Colorado Springs said in a statement to KRDO Saturday. "This helps ensure that we identify and prevent the spread of COVID-19 while providing the safest care for children and protecting our health care workers."
"A COVID-19 test is not required for a patient visit to the emergency department nor is it required to receive necessary, emergent care (including emergency surgery)," a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed.
Pierce told us she's emotional and overwhelmed by the experience. She wants to get their story out so other families can be weary.
"I just don't want somebody else to go through what we did for a result that wouldn't change the outcome of the situation."
