Who "cares" about Health

A man is using a grinder and blacks out, because his blood sugar is
low. He gashes his leg with a four inch dig that is bleeding profusely.
His father rushes him to Casualty at around 8 pm.

When he arrives he is bleeding but he is concious. A nurse administers
a gauze dressing as he is still bleeding. He is then told to sit and
wait, which he does FOR THE NEXT 5 HOURS.

During this time, he sees heart cases being seen to, a gunshot wound is
rushed in and 12 pregnant women are brought in. Apparently, pregnant
women must be first processed by CASUALTY before sending foward.

He continues to leak blood on the floor, through the bandage till just after
1 AM, when he is seen by an Attending. The Doctor at that point removes
the dressing and is shocked at the damage, asking how it occured.

He then proceeds to probe into the open wound with his fingers, to FINALLY
see if any stray metal fragments have been left THEN administers anesthesia
(local) and antiseptic, indicating he should be warded.

The wound is deep and open so around 25 stiches are required to pull together
the flesh and tighten together. This is very excruciating and time consuming act,
during which local stopped working.

After that, he is passed to a nurse, who DISCHARGES him and he goes home.
The reason for his accident, the blackout apparently forgotten in the process. He
leaves around 3AM to return home. This is health "care".

On the other side of this equation Drs Kerryn Brahim & Safeeya Mohammed-Bhagan
and the team at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the same hospital took time and
effort to personally champion the cause of premature babies.

With the help of parents and the Rotarians of San Fernando-South, they sought to
create a place where family members could get solace and support in dealing with
the issues and loss of their premature babies.

They represent some of the hard-working staff at the Hospitals in this country. The
nurses who run far into another shift because relief is late or not coming. The Doctors
who try to do double shifts and "care" for their patients.

We have a health system, that like so much else in this country, has been neglected
in favour of progress and profit. Filled with people who do their jobs mechanically
because, like the system itself, THEY are also overwhelmed.

For a system to work properly, any system, there must be people who are willing to
try to make it work. They must be supported by the neccessary infrastructure, capital
and procedures to allow for an smooth and continuous workflow.

In this, as with the situations in crime and in education, we are victims of our own
attitudes. We rely on the government to do what must be done without asking
ourselves the simple questions of HOW can this be improved? We do NOT care either.

If something is wrong, it should be dealth with, while there are still people in the
system who care, or like the man with the gash in his leg, we may find ourselves
trapped in a system that leaves us bleeding and alone... Do YOU "care"?

wP