First Day in the Hospital

Today we woke up early because it was our first day at the hospital.  Everyone met in the main room dressed in our scrubs before 8 am.  Our vans picked us up and transported us to the hospital.  Traffic wasn’t as bad today but people were all over the roads setting up their street table for vending or pushing huge crates on wheels full of fruit or furniture. One thing about the people here that I find funny is when they are walking or pushing carts are never in a hurry to get anywhere but when they are in their cars it is a huge rush and you have to be passing others or honking your horn. When we got to the hospital it was bustling with people, but the first thing we had to do was pay our hospital fee.  Once we gave them our money and processed our information we were taken into the wards.  My group consisted of three other girls from my school and we were sent to pediatrics.  Although I was nervous I was excited to observe. 

Some of our group before we split up into sections of the hospital

The first day here was a little disappointing to be honest.  There are few doctors in each area and most of the people there are interns or medical students.  We met one of the doctors first and followed him around but rounds were started at 8 am and after the morning orientation we didn’t actually get up to the pediatric ward until 11 am. Most of the kids in the ward are treated for malaria, pneumonia, malnutrition, or meningitis. I found it really sad to be up there. Most of the kids just laid in their beds very lethargically.  Others whimpered in pain or slept while their mothers watched over them. We were shuffled from doctor to intern to intern but felt a little useless.  Periodically we would see them admit a new child or give them medicine but it was very slow moving.  The beds look very uncomfortable in each area but it’s all they have there.  They don’t have all of the tools that we do in America so they use something as simple as the finger to a rubber glove as a tourniquet.  One of the most heart wrenching things to watch for me was when an intern drew blood from a 7 month old baby boy.  He drew blood from the top of the hand but couldn’t find the vein.  The baby was wailing and convulsing from the pain as the intern dug the needle around in his hand till he got blood. Once he did take enough blood he took the needle out and just left the baby bleeding. The traditional doctors seem to have no patient compassion which is a huge difference here versus the United States. I know that the hospital here is better than no hospital but it is something I have to remind myself often when I am witnessing something unfamiliar to me.

                                                       the beds the children lay on in pediatrics

Soon it was 1pm and it was time for lunch.  We took the tuk-tuk to a local restaurant where all of us were meeting called caribou.  I had a cheeseburger and fries! I was so happy to eat something familiar.  After lunch I ran with some of the girls to the market and picked up some necessities like hand sanitizer and Kleenexes.  If I would have known how it would be here and at the hospital I would have packed a lot differently.  They don’t have the necessities, not even an AED.  One of the people staying on our compound is a medical student from the UK. He has started a fund online to raise money so that we could purchase at least one AED for the hospital. I had to go to the bathroom all day but held it because the bathrooms are awful at the hospitals.  There is no toilet paper and no toilet for that matter, just a hole in the ground.  The smell is gut-wrenching and even just walking past it makes me nauseous, I couldn’t imagine going inside it.  I’m going to appreciate my brand new toilet when I get home much more.

After lunch we took the tuk-tuk back to the compound.  Mia, the girl in my room has been here for three weeks and she is going back tonight around 6 to work a night-shift.  I’m going back with her so that I can do some of the hands on experience stuff in the minor theatre.

                                                  Tuk-tuks waiting outside the hospital for people

I’m back from the hospital again and I’m so glad I went with Mia and Joel, two others that have been here for a long time.  They gave me a little more faith in the whole African hospital system by helping us and giving advice.  Mia is so open and a great teacher so I’m glad she was around to integrate me into the hospital.  We first went to minor theatre which during the day is busy with catheder changes, dressing wounds, undressing wounds, stitches, and smaller accidents.  It was cool to see but the only problem was it wasn’t bursting with people at all tonight.  Even though I was a little disappointed Mia and Joel took us around the rooms and showed us where everything was located so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed when we came back.  We waited for about an hour but still no one had shown up. The two assured us that every day is different and that a lot of times they would have people come in who have been victims of “Mob Justice” which means they were either caught stealing or suspected of a crime which means these people needed a lot of attention.

Because we had been sitting there for a while some of us wandered over to the Casualty wing which is similar to an ER.   This area was bursting with people but a lot of students find it hard to handle because of the difference the doctors treat patients here.  I walked around a bit and saw a guy with a collapsed lung, others badly beaten, and this man with a huge cut down his sternum to his bellybutton.  I didn’t stay in for long because it was very crowded and there isn’t much I can do.  We went back to the minor theatre and Joel and Mia said we could learn how to insert an IV in them.  It reminded me exactly of Grey’s Anatomy as we were huddled around a table with floodlights taking turns inserting IV’s into their hands and arms.  They were such great sports and helpful in instructing how to do it.  After everyone had taken a turn we waited a little while to see if anyone had shown up but it was still empty.  We checked in casualties again but decided it was time to go because it was getting late.  We took the tuk-tuk back to the compound! I feel like I’ve ridden in so many tuk-tuks just today that a regular car just won’t be the same. Haha! All for now!