casualty contd.........................

4 night duties and 15days after when i look back at casualty posting it has been the most fulfilling posting.....it has been satisfying on the professional as well as on personal front......
professionaly it is needless to say that exposure to patients first hand is a different feeling all together........thinkin of all the possibilites for causes and racking ur brain for the management and sometimes not knowing what to do and so finally ending up referring the cases to seniors or to respective wards.......one thing i learnt most about was acute gastroenteritis or vomiting and diarrohea for the uninitiated........not only did we see the spectrum of the illness from the most mild cases to the really serious almost dead patients..we learnt something else....something very basic which may not be of much use later iin life but at that time we were proud of it........"to excel in the art of inserting cannulas for intravenous lines" (or drips for those not aware of this terminology)........in order to rehydrate these patients we excelled in inserting cannulas.....in any size n shape; of both the cannula n the patient.....here i must thank a particular senior resident from orthopaedics who took pains to teach me how to insert the i.v. cannula correctly........i must say he was a very down to earth person.......he saw all patients ......he did not differentiate them into paediatric cases or surgical or medical..........he did not feel lowly to start iv lines himself when other senior doctors told us that it was a nurse's job n not theirs.......he made almost all diagnoses correct n among all the chaos n mob of patients he took out time to teach a few things here n there.....n mind you in case someone did not know the answer he did not undermine or humiliate that person........he even stayed up most of the time on the night shifts (when all most all seniors went off to sleep by 1 or 2)......n to know that he did his post graduation from PGI just bowled me over.......cause he was so humble........no airs about himself.......i salute u sir n i wish there were more like u......

on the personal front i made new friends-pav ....bonded with my college mate yani........all this while we never had had so much of interaction especially with someone from the college of the hospital....but both me and yani bonded well with pav.........infact pav was the first one to mention that we were just like them(them here refers to those who have done their mbbs from india).........n that we were a lil different from other externees.........probably cause we took our work seriously or maybe the fact that we actually worked!!.......... anyhow wot pav said really touched me .....he said he felt like we were one of them......he is a very down to earth person n really helpful....people like him are rare to find......he also gave us advice on how to tackle interns who dont work or give u trouble........well the talk on this issue started coz dev just wouldnt work........he would keep sitting there not doing anything........waiting till someone really picked him out to do the work....giving stupied excuses like he didnt hav his specs......we did many suturings.but he....i can count ....maybe not more than 5 times........n cannulas that too ......maybe 10 .........whereas our counts were too high to be counted........

anyhow casualty ended and i felt that i learnt quite a few things......n now that i look back im very satisfied with the way it turned out n with the way i completed it..........hope my other postings turn out like this one too...........(amen!!)

Casualty

casualty posting was by far my best posting. itruly enjoyed it. i had heard a lot about it before i started....that how the shifts were hectic and the enormous workload which seemed overburdening.........
the day we were supposed to report we reached at around 8:30 am thinking that the shift changes at 9 am. all of us were huddled outside the CMO's office(cheif/casualty medical officer)
we waited (as if waiting was also part of our training schedule!!)their were students from the attached college also.needless to say we were far apart.i even overheard tehm enquiring about us.....who we were?where we came from....as we had breached there territory.........(i am sure we certainly didnt llok like aliens......!!)
when the CMO came we didnt realise.......we were soon called inside and asked to submit our rosters n then asked to go outside n wait.......after 10minutes or so the peon came out n handed us a pieceof paper.on it was our schedule.around 14-15 of us were divided into 3-4 batches....some got morning, some evening and some night.....and a lucky few got the day off too....those in the evening and night shifts grumbled as they left to return again......i was happy i got the morning shift and it was already 11am or so & the shift changed at 2....
anyhow i was grouped with one of my college mates- yani* & one from the college attached to the hospital - pav*.the fourth one we couldnt spot (dev*)
when all had settled down......we also got down to our business.......but what was our business?now keeping in mind that we were one posting old.......(dermat)-where only our seniors worked & we just observed or waited or did miniscule jobs like giving injections or takin biopsies.......but here we waited for some instructions or things of that sort.....but nothing like that happened..........this went on for about 5minutes till the Medical officer in charge(M.O.) told us that we were "no longer interns but that we were doctors........& that we were to treat patients...on our own!!
with puzzled looks on our faces we turned towards the centre of the room where 2-3 tables were joined together and "doctors" were seated. we looked at Pav.......he was already seeing some patients........so me n devi also sat down n began our task...........

(.....to be continued......)
*names have been changed

can it get any better?

sometimes, some days you get a feeling that things couldnt have turned out any better....its one of those days when u feel like questioning the very existence of things........... beings in this world......
when things go wrong ......(yes one at a time doesnt work for me).......they just go horribly wrong.....
today was my first day of PSM/rural posting.......i was actually on time .......everything was perfect except for my luck i guess.........
just merely 100 metres before my hospital a maruti 800 driver decided to apply the brakes all of a sudden....the toyota corolla in front of me applied brakes n saved himself n had to time to manoeuvre himself out of the potential mess........i applied braked too n saved myself from ramming into the toyota(THANK GOD for theSEAT BELT that i am SAFE!!).........but i wasnt that fortunate......the zen behind me was either slow in applying brakes or had old brakes or did not notice me braking .....and after a scrreeeeeeeeeech and a thuuud...........n jolt forward i got down to inpsect the damage........the left side of my car's bumper had got twisted n the protector from inside(a rod of steel) was jutting out.........
the zen behind me had damage from front n behind as another maruti 800 rammed into it.......the other guy had damaged headlights.........
after few minutes of dilly dallying.....we all set out to our destiantions knowing fully well that arguign or fighting wasnt an option especially when the supposed real culprits had already fled.....as we were about to disperse to my delight i realised that the mud flap was stuck between the bumper n the rear tyre........as i was trying to free it out the other guy behind the zen helped me.....n got it freed........ (i thank him a lot)
anyhow i set out with shaking hands n wobbly legs but reached hospital safe and sound............
since i had to take relieving from the previous posting we had to get it signed by a particular doctor..........well i guess all had not ended yet.......we were to go to the OPD building.....n had to travel by lift to reach the 3rd floor.......it was a crowded one........n after getting the sign and on my way down i decided to give a call to another friend of mine to enquire about the next posting and i m sure no one needs to be a sherlock holmes to guess what had happened..........yes my cell phone had been very neatly taken out of my pocket n very conveniently switched off..........i couldnt believe my luck............
ofcourse to trace back my cell and to expect to get it back is foolish on my part but what can i say my hope is not ready to die yet.......after all it was a nokia 6680.....bought when it was new in the market( i guess no need to mention how much it had cost then)........forget about the cost ......all those phone numbers, lovingly saved messages, carefully set ringtones .......those memorable photos.........all gone......with the mobile hanger which was a very special gift.........
most of my friends told me that i should be happy that something bigger or worse had been warded off or avoided......i seriously wonder what........


PS:the car needs to be assessed by the insurance people( rough estimate ranges from 1500-5500), repair will take a day so the car may end being at the service station for a day or two.....i have blocked the sim card ....contacted police people posted at casualty in my hospital and submitted an application to avoid misuse of my phone number, given the imei no. (no FIR though)......and i am waiting

happy doctor's day!!

well HAPPY DOCTOR'S DAY everyone..........i had to write much more and on many more topics but this day came, so this punctuation (and not a full stop) in the order of blogs (which are ofcourse delayed)............
i really dont know what to write about....lets see .....how about the pitiful condition in which doctors are made to work.......three days of night shifts/24 hours duty in a week was enough to drive me crazy.......the ones who really work are lowest in the order of hierarchy........i saw in these days the conditions in which we work....with least resources n worst environment........in places in the hospital where i work to get a fan is also considered good.......one whole night( almost.......)i spent without sleep coz the fan wouldnt throw any air........one room n 6beds crammed.....n patients lying on each....(the room ofcourse was smaller than required to accomodate the patients n the doctors n the nurses n other staff members.........plus the cupboards n wash basin etc)
the basic medicines are lacking.......i am ashamed to disclose that we had on several occasions fooled patients and asked them to get a certain medicine for other needy patients cause they were not available......by saying that this was for their child,brother, sister etc.....what could we do.......if something like phenobarbitone was not present........we were using sterilised disposables punches for biopsies, brought by some previous patients ...over n over again........coz the hospital would not provide n most of the patients could not afford........
i think doctors have the craziest shifts..........24hours in many postings barring a few like casualty n labour room etc.......the nurses have 8 hourly shifts ,,,,,the orderlies have 12 hourly shifts.........
n who does most of the work?well the more junior you are the more work u'll do....take me for instance.........in a posting recently......i was a receptionist, an orderly, a clerk.......a worker ant to be precise..........i ran to the hematology lab to get the vials....i visited the pathology lab for reports.....i was sent to the CT scan and ultrasound room to get dates for patients......and guess what?..........i am the unpaid intern......

(its getting a little depressing so ill end now.......may or may not continue.......)