Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Ambulance and The Nurse

This rainy morning, the peace and calm of our household was interrupted. And I calmed myself down when I was tasked to call 991 as it was crucial that I spoke clearly and logically. Second Uncle couldn't move at all ... he'd actually been struggling when moving for the past few days and we 're all not sure what was wrong.

The operator led me through the procedure, asking the necessary questions. Then, they connected me to the hospital. And after asking me a few more questions, the operator instructed me about how to deal with the patient in case he got weaker before the ambulance arrived.

The whole process went well, and I was terribly happy about how it went.

About 15 minutes later, the ambulance arrived. But the personnel in the ambulance was hardly friendly and reassuring. Especially the nurse. Because I caught the look on her face when we greeted her with a good morning.

Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Or perhaps had she been on shift the whole night?  Was she too immuned to other people's ordeal?

It's a tall order, but I wish all medical personnel would have a sense of empathy for the pain and suffering of patients. Sure, they are looking after so many of them, but without the sense of compassion, they will never be able to provide comfort to the patients and their caretakers. And that's really a sad thing.

Revisiting Miri

I went back to Miri for the first time in 7 years and 10 months.  Miri Waterfront I left Miri in 2014, and years have passed in a blink of a...