Sorry, I’ve been distracted lately.
Back to the topic on hands (O&G exp.). On last Wednesday, I’ve had my first ever baby scan – twice in a day!
The day started with an early morning (not even 6 yet) call from a colleague, “Rad, I’m bleeding…” By the time I reached her place, there’s blood all over the floor (she has to open the door for me after all), her bed & clothing (she already changed once & wrapped extra towel around her).
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Iklan sat no:
As a single person, I’m proud of the fact that I can be of service to many of my married friends. Needs co-pilot to drive to faraway places? No problem. Hubby is away for extended period of time? I’ll move in to your place, no worry. Hubby won’t allow you to drive into town without company (why eh?hehehe!)? Just pick me up. No partner to accompany you to functions? I’ll get ready. Do you hear me complaining? Nah, not at all. It’s not just for friends, I’ll do it for family too. Need to go out-station? I’ll babysit the kids. Cannot take leave? It’s ok, I’ll accompany mak for the monthly visits to the hospital. Needs money? How much to bank-in? Borrow books or buy books? Need transport - where to? No problemo.
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This friend already mentioned some long time ago that she might need me if any emergency situation arises since the hubby is working in another state. So, I’m sorta on-call lah. When the first call came in, I was dozing in between the many alarm settings (5 plus 1 ok) so I just reached out for the snooze button (again). When she called for the second time, it just registered to my mind of the many thing that could have had happened.
Quickly get ready (no shower- heheh) & rushed to her place. I’m not good in terms of comforting words so I did what I could – mopped the floor, took out the soiled beddings, make hot drinks (she’s dehydrated – loss of blood). She decided not to go the clinic straight away – thinking perhaps the bleeding might stop on its own.
By 8am, it didn’t stop so off we went to the clinic. Previous week check-out had revealed that she’s having the 'uri (placenta) di bawah'. So, the doctor immediately scanned for the baby’s heart beat (Thank God! See that movement? That’s the baby heart – looks ok to me) & cannot see the cause of the bleeding. She immediately referred us to the hospital.
My friend already had some experienced with Hospital S – not enough doctors, long wait. She thought, let’s bypass Hospital S & go further to Hospital PJ. So, here are my complaints.
According to the emergency room rulings, my friend came under the middle-yellow code (red for real cannot-wait emergency while green for the not-so emergency lah). After getting that sorted out, she was asked to register as a patient. Here is where the clerk at the counter had the audacity to mumble, “Kenapa mesti datang jauh2? Kenapa tak pergi hospital yg dekat?” with the tone of voice like we purposedly make her life more difficult. When I tried to explain, she turned my argument the other way around, “We’re the one with less doctor!” Huh?
Next, she (my friend lah) was wheel-chaired to the O&G clinic for further checkup. It’s already 9-ish. All the different clinics are arranged along a corridor. We almost reached the end of the corridor when the boy who wheeled her said, “Klinik mata?” “Dik, akak ni bleeding lah, apa pulak…blahblah” “Takpe, saya pergi tanya kaunter..”
Then, we’re asked by one of the matronly nurse to wait inside the Obs&Gyn clinic. That time, there’re many others outside the clinic for their appointments. After a while, we asked the nurses again, “Tunggu sekejap ye…” Bear in mind, she’s still bleeding & it would be better if she was to lie down (Me-no doctor said so). Since the doctors & nurses keep on walking about, she managed to get one of the doctors to find out about the situation. You wanna know what happen? The doctor eventually assigned to her said, “Bahagian emergency dah call saya tadi, ingatkan patient belum sampai lagi (tu sebab tak panggil2)!” Me-Grrrrrrr!!!!
Another scan. The baby is doing ok, no problem with the placenta, cannot see what’s causing the bleeding. Check down there revealed nothing too. She’s to be warded for observation (as expected). Doctor, “Mana kad kuning?” Me & friend, “Kad kuning apa?” “The emergency section were supposed to send you here with relevant documents (yellow card etc.)” Doc, “Nevermind, I’ll just write back here (another card/form)” “Awak siapa?” “Sila pergi kaunter depan (so many kaunters) & daftar masuk wad ye. Tunjuk kad ni.”
Kaunter Daftar masuk wad.
“Saya nak daftarkan kawan blahblah….” "Mana kad kuning?” "Kad kuning takde cuma ada kad ni, …” “siapa kata?” “Eh, doctor la yang cakap!” Me-Grrrrrrrr!!!!!
“Kan ada tulis kad belakang tu ha?”
Back to O&G.
"Nurse, siapa ye yang perlu hantarkan kawan saya ke wad?"
Tunggu.
(more nurses & doctors passing from one room into another)
Repeat the questions. Same results.
Another nurse after being urged by another patient, “Saya mmg nak balik wad tapi kena tunggu patient yg saya bawak ni. Tunggulah kalau nak ikut.”
After some time, “Ok, jom.”
Me (trying to be real ‘cool’ here)- “Nurse, kawan saya ni bleeding – takkan lah nak berjalan jauh2?”
"La, apasal tak cakap?" Me-Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!
(Pergi bilik belakang & came out with another nurse. Eh, ada pulak nurse yg available?)
Ending:
By the time my friend settled down on her bed – it was almost 12pm *sigh*
BTW, she’s still bleeding on & off til today but the baby is fine, alhamdulillah. Let’s pray for her & the baby.
Conclusion: First class infrastructure, still third class mentality. isk-isk!
7 comments:
Hi Rad, Wow! I had to read twice to fathom everything. Gosh! Why didn't she call for the ambulance? She was bleeding.
And to read of the musical chairs you both experienced? And she bleeding?
My stepmom, my relatives too mention re going to hospitals in KL. They say they feel more sick going there and get tolak around as well the unfriendly receptionists etc.
You Know Rad, here if in your friend's case, i.e. bleeding, all she has to do is phone 911, say, "i'm bleeding" and within 4 minutes, yes...not more than 5 minutes anytime, an ambulance, a truma unit and a fire truck with sirens blasting will be at your residence. Always 3 units will arrive. Why 3? Because they not sure whether got to break down your door, or you need emergency treatment right away, thus the truma unit.
In the ambulance itself she will be treated and connected by TV cameras to waiting emergency doctors on standby duty, the trained crew will relate to the doctor her condition and when arrive at hospital will be rushed into emergency room straightaway already knowing whats her problem. (Medical is free here in Canada)
I can imagine your frustrations. And my relatives in KL too.
There are more than 200 Nationalities living here and you can imagine the languages spoken...but they the police have translators speaking from Swahili, Farsi, Arabic, Tamil, Chinese, Italian, you name it....and if you phone speaking Urdu, within seconds someone will answer you in your language....not sure whether they know Bahasa, ha ha.
However, while the police emergency answering you on the phone, the ambulance, truma unit and fire truck already rushing to your residence. Most times accompanied by a polic car too.
When you dial 911, your address is automatically registered on the police computer and directed to the three emergency units.
If for some reason a person alone at home, gets a heart attack, all he/she does is dial 911, no need say anything....the 3 units will be rushing to you.
You know Rad, I wonder this? A lot of the Medical people where you are were trained o/seas and yet having the situation you mentioned?
Bleeding, lagi kena frustrations and stress.
Hey Rad, you are a friend in a million. Very hard find a friend like you, ready, willing and able anytime. I'm glad to know someone like you.
Keep well, Rad. UL.
OMG, so frustrating. I could actually feel what you went through.
There is a serious need for change of attitude in the medical services. When my mum was ill (towards the end of her life), she was in and out of hospitals a lot. My siblings complained of the frustrations they went through especially at a local government hospital. For some reason what we tell the people at the counters just don't register in their heads.
Of course, there are exceptions. The ones I came across at IJN were professionals. Private clinics/ hospitals do put a little more effort - because the people pay!
What irks me is .... how about for people who cannot afford private care? Are they forever doomed to third class mentality? Why aren't they entitled to some professionalism too?
Seems to me that some (not all) of them will only take good care of a patient in a government environment if that person has some 'status'.
that hospital bukan private hospital ke? selalunya yang worst hospital kerajaan je (sorry pada sesapa yang kerja kat situ)
nasib le u sabar lagi, kalau tak ada lak nurse kat situ yang bleeding hehehe
eh eh bila lak nak temankan i shoping? :P
UL,
It never crosses our mind to call & wait for the ambulance. I grew up in a country where ambulance services are so bad that we had people died on ambulance rides! Hah! And most times, I think ambulance is for sending the corpse back home (the image from when I was a kid), getting woman who is failed giving birth at home to the hospital (not necessarily on time) or real emergencies like accidents on the road.
You're lucky living in a developed country where the health supports are fantastic.
Well, hujan emas di negeri orang - lebih baik negeri sendiri. So, I'll just have to make sure me & family stay healthy at all times!And take up insurance too. Since we cannot depend on the government eh (though we paid taxes)?
jt,
Re: if that person has some 'status'.
This is the trick taught by my sis who is far more experienced in hospital matters than me since she had one of her kids hospitalised & passed away (never blamed them!) long ago.
If you're government servant or somebody, make sure you show it! Dress smartly like office wears with your nametag conspicuously shown (guys wear tie la). And make sure your 'titles' are heard by everyone. Then you can easily breeze through the guard at the entrance, the nurses on duty and the doctors on rounds!
That's the thing with government hosp! Overcrowded facilities, underpaid staffs & most of all bad attitudes of Malaysian!
Private hosp? No problemo - you've the money Ma'am?
But-but, nowadays - we can always sue them if anything went wrong right?
darling,
Cerita hospital gomen lah ni. Harap hospital je yang canggih (baru -tu pun nasib baik takde siling yg runtuh -ahaks!)tapi kelam kabut buat kerja. Apa gunanya vision statement la, haper la, carta lairan kerja la - habuk pun takdak!
Sabar? Dah dok 'Grrrr' tu -kira mmg bersabar sgtlah. Nanti, klu lagi sekali kena - I'll simply ran amok.
Soping? Student budget -mana boleh soping dgn you yg pro! Nanti terbeliak mata I tengok your sopping spree!
nasib baik kan.. tp kalau runtuh glemer ok, masuk tv hehehe
grr grrr tu kira masih sabar le tu..kalau i, dah lama keluar ayat dalam nada sopan tapi pedas..
yang pernah terima ayat macam tu masa i berurusan dengan sorang staf BCB & Telekom. sapa suruh keluarkan ayat yang boleh dijawap semula dan jawapan yg dia dapat tu memalukan dia semula..
iskh jahat i ni.. :P
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