Well, it all happened on the last day of my Geron posting.
It was 5 in the evening, and everyone was going about their usual routine. Suddenly, a lady was rushed into the ward on a wheelchair. She appeared to be unconscious, her head, lunging back from the velocity of the charging wheelchair. Her hapless college ran alongside, trying to keep up.
The ward staff ushered her into an empty examination room, where they placed her on the bed and started to try to revive her. People buzzed about the room, taking parameters, hypocount and an ECG.
The ward doctor (a foreigner) was called to the scene to insert a cannula - a precious lifeline in case IV drugs were needed. This doctor, well, you might say that she isn't exactly capable of handling high stress situations. She kept screaming for someone to anchor the lady's hand while she tried to insert the cannula.
Dr : Nurse! Nurse! Someone hold her hand!
Me : Dr, I'll do it.
Dr : Nurse! Nurse! Hold her hand! Hold her hand!
Me : (Deadpan face) Dr, I am holding her hand.
Dr : (Flustered) Oh... Ok... I insert now ah.... Hold her hand!
The lady then started to regain consciousness. It was amazing how still her arm remained (even though I didn't use any force to stabilize her arm) as she violently shook her head, screaming in pain.
Cannula one didn't work. Luckily the second was a success.
She cried out that she was a Hep B carrier and has Thalassemia B (or minor, a potentially fatal blood disorder). It became apparent that this was not her first, nor occasional admission into a healthcare institute.
I had to repeat everything she said. It was like the rest of the people in the room were deaf. They kept saying, "Huh? What did she say?"
Maybe she was speaking in tongue.
After stabilizing her, the decision was made to transfer her to an institute better equipped to render care. You see, the place I was posted to, isn't that happening a place to work in. They seldom encounter emergencies like these, preferring to jump around like ants on a frying pan and ship the elderly off to the nearest hospital at the slightest lowered glycemic level or elevated blood pressure.
I'm digressing. It's back to the story.
Ok, the decision to call an ambulance was made. And one would guess that any sane person would actually call the Civil Defence right? Well, the irony is : The ward sister blasted the SN that wanted to make that call with an eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, "Who gave you the authority to call the CD?" and promptly contacted a private ambulance service.
What the hell. Remember, this lady was brought in unconscious. And was screaming in pain whenever conscious.
The worst is yet to come.
I was 'assigned' to stay with the lady and her college in the room. My purpose, I presume, was to call for help if her condition took a turn for the worst. Although, the real truth in it all, was to free their staff, to continue with their usual routine. Imagine that. The sister didn't even have the decency to leave a trained, or at least their OWN staff to look after the lady.
I am but a student.
Can you seriously expect me to shoulder the responsibility for you? Or that of the reputation of your institute?
Well, things really went downhill from there.
The private ambulance took at least 25 min to get there. And the stupid, moron of a nursing manager could only smile and kept insisting that the ambulance was just around the corner, held up by evening traffic; much to the annoyance of the concerned college.
And when the ambulance finally arrived, the moron still could ask the college to chide the ambulance staff for taking such a long time (btw, she insisted that it only took them 15 min).
"You scold them lah. Aiyoh, take (stresses) 15 min you know.. haha"
You'd think that stupidity would stop there. No, it doesn't. It gets worst. Really.
While transferring the lady onto the stretcher, the sister hollered how her broken finger, which was immobilized by a pressure bandage, would not be able to take the strain of lifting the lady to the stretcher. She was compelled to repeat this statement for at least 5 more times.
I thought I was on the tip of the Andes mounts, with her voice echoing in the background, like it never meant (nor could ever) stop. Someone whould have slapped her shut. The ambulance sriver had to push her away to continue with the transfer.
After the lady was safely on the stretcher, the staff hurriedly whisked the lady into the aisle. And I was left to help clean up the room.
To my horror, the sister's next words began to make me sick. And the words would soon be seared into memory, for eternity.
"Aiyah, my bedsheets! This is my bedsheet!You can't leave with my bedsheeet!" pointing to the bedsheet under the lady on the stretcher.
"You take lah," replied the ambulance driver and proceeded to yank the bedsheet from under the lady.
"You cannot take it out like that here you know! People can see leh! Must go back into the room to take out!" she cried.
At this point, the lady's college screamed at them saying, "This is an emergency! Let's go OK!"
The ambulance driver said he'd bring the sheets back (one day), as the sister badgered him for his name and whatnots.
"Must remember to return ah! I know your name ok... haha" she said, while scouring for a name tag to read.
Although the sister was laughing a lot, i failed to see the humour in it all.
And when the driver slipped back into the room to retrieve his pillow, the sister went up to check if it was really theirs or the property of the institute.
Good grief.
Needless to say, by now, the college had transformed into some sort of panic stricken monster, yelling her head off, trying to hurry the whole process.
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The moral of the story is simple : (Chicken & Cheryl's Theory)
Never assume ALL hospitals are equipped for accident and emergencies, even though they carry the name of being a hospital.
If an accident happened to you (eg. Being run over by a car), it is better to ask the car to reverse, and then run you over AGAIN to increase the likelihood of immediate death. It is useless to admit yourself into a hospital that is ill equipped to handle situations like this.
