The photos you see here are of the specially made hospital preparation teddies and dolls. Our play specialists use them to explain the treatment you will receive and the equipment that the doctors and nurses might use during your stay. They will sometimes allow you use the equipment the doctors use on the toys. You will be able to listen to the teddy's heart, take his blood pressure and take some blood from him. Click on the pictures to read about what you see.
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Stethoscope to listen with
The sounds your body makes are very useful to us, but they are usually too quiet to hear with just our ears. We can use the stethoscope to listen to your heart beating, your breathing or the noises that your tummy is making. It is sometimes a little cold but it doesn't hurt and it only takes a few minutes. The doctor or nurse might ask you to breath in and out so that they can hear clearly how your body is working on the inside!
Dinamapp, blood-pressure machine
When we measure your blood pressure, we can tell how hard your heart has to work to pump blood around your body. To do this, a machine blows up a special strap (cuff) around your arm or leg. This can feel a bit funny but doesn't hurt. Then we let the cuff down gently, which takes about half a minute.
Scales to measure your weight
It is helpful for us to know how much you weigh because we can find out how much you are growing and also work out the right amount of medicine to give you. We sometimes use ordinary scales you stand on or sometimes we use a special chair.
A thermometer is used to take your temperature. When you are ill, your temperature can become too hot or too cold and it is important that we know your temperature.There are lots of different kinds, but we use ones that go in your ear or under your arm(like you see in the picture). It doesn't hurt and only takes a few seconds.
Oxygen is one of the gases that we breathe in everyday from the air. It helps give us energy. Sometimes to give you added energy we separate the oxygen from the other gases and give you pure oxygen to breath. This will help you breathe more easily.
A nebuliser is a way of giving you medicines mixed with air or gas so they can get into your lungs to make you better. We give you a special see-through mask over your nose and mouth, or ask you to hold a tube in your mouth for a few minutes. You will feel like you have a gentle wind blowing in your face.
A syringe is a plastic tube, which we use to give you medicine or to take blood. We can also put medicine like Calpol in a syringe to help you swallow it. The play specialists will let you use the syringes on their specially made hospital preparation teddies and dolls. The might also let you use them for painting or water fights in the summer (but don't tell anyone!).
Plasters are stuck on your skin over cuts or grazes to stop dirt or infection getting into your body - they are just like the ones you use at home.
Sometimes, if we can't find a plaster that is big enough, we will use a bandage.
If you have a broken bone you might need a special type of plaster called a plaster cast. This is put on to support and protect the bones until they mend. It is soft and wet when it is put on and then it sets hard when it dries. You can your friends to sign your plaster cast.
Medicine come in lots of different forms and types that are easy and best for children. We might give you tablets to chew or swallow, syrups to drink, medicine in a bag to take though a drip, or medicine mixed in air to take using a nebuliser.
Our "magic" cream is a white cream, which makes the skin on the back of your hand go numb. We can put it on your hand before you have a blood test or a cannula, so you don't feel it.
A name band is a plastic strip you can wear like a bracelet. We can put your name, birthday and weight on it and wrap it around your wrist or ankle. All the patients in hospital have to have at least one of these.
This is used to measure your pulse (heart beat) and also how much oxygen is in your blood. It looks like a small peg with a red light on it. We put it on your finger or toe. It doesn't hurt, and usually only takes a few seconds to do (although we might leave it on for longer if we want to keep checking it).
This is like a computer screen with different coloured wiggly lines and numbers on it. It will show us your heart beat, and how many times a minute you breathe. The monitor reads this information from the sticky plasters on your chest. It will also tell us what your oxygen saturation is (how much oxygen is in your blood); the reading is taken from your finger. It can also tell us what your blood pressure is; the reading is taken from the Velcro cuff that has been put on your arm or leg.
This is a small plastic tube, which we normally put in the back of your hand. It is very useful to give you either extra fluids (if you are not drinking enough) or some medicine to make you better. We can also use it to take a small blood sample. It saves us time, and it saves you having lots of needles in and out.
Drip (With a Drip Stand)
A drip is a way of giving you medicine or water from a squashy bag. We can use this if you are not eating or drinking enough or need some medicine. The fluid runs through a machine.
These are special pictures of the inside of your
body. For example, we can take X-rays of your bones or lungs. You won't feel anything
while they are being taken but you have to stay still or the pictures will be blurred. 
If you have
broken or hurt your leg, you might be helped to walk by using crutches, which take some of
the pressure off the leg by transferring some of the weight to your arms.
