Julie (physio from N. Ireland) left this morning. It's always sad to see people go because we all quickly become like family. She was the first person from Northern Ireland that I had ever met (then I met three more within a week). Now she's the first person from Northern Ireland whom I said goodbye to. It's been really cool getting to know her.
Today was prenatal clinic. Before seeing patients, Ms. Ketlye gave an educational talk to all the pregnant women. Vicki and Nadine helped out with weighing and taking blood pressures, and Laura sat in with Amy and Evan. Meanwhile I shadowed Dr. Rodney until he left to see Julie off at the airport. Then I went to the lab where I drew some blood and did a bunch of finger sticks. I drew three blood, two of them from little boys (about 10-12), and all of them went smoothly, so I think I'm getting better at this. But I still need more practice on patients with veins that are hard to see (Laura, are you still up for being a guinea pig?).
When I came back to the clinic from lunch, there had been a car accident where three people were brought to the clinic. In the treatment room (a.k.a. injection room) we had a 75-year old man named Augusma who fell on his right side and had people pile on top of him in the accident. I heard there were two girls from the accident in some other rooms crying very loud, but they were not in as serious of a condition as the old man.When I came in, Augusma was lying quietly on the table as Dr. Rodney cleaned his wound. A big flap of skin on the back of his right hand had been teared open, so we could see his muscles and tendons. We could tell that he was in pain, but he was moaning very quietly. Gavin told us that in accidents like this, it is important to look for people who are lying quietly among others who might be screaming for help, because often times those who are silent are the ones in more serious conditions.
Gavin sutured his hand, including an artery that had teared under the flap and a small laceration on his right palm. Laura, Vicki, and I took turns keeping the big overhead lamp in place and holding Augusma's other hand. Meanwhile Nadine and Evan helped out with the prenatal clinic. After Gavin finished suturing and bandaged the wound, Augusma still had pain when moving his right arm, and the elbow was swollen, so we took him to the X-ray clinic, which is 10 minutes down the street from us.
As we waited at the X-ray clinic for the film to develop, Augusma shared how thankful he was that he survived the accident and praised God for sending us to take care of him. He prayed and gave thanks to God, and then started singing "Mwen renmen Jezi, mwen renmen Jezi, pou tout sa li fè pou mwen" (I love Jesus, I love Jesus, for all that he does for me). I was really inspired to see how much faith he had in God.
The X-ray showed that he had fractured the proximal neck of radius (bone of forearm on thumb side) and the olecranon (tip of elbow). So we went back to the clinic and put a cast on his arm. Augusma once again shared how thankful he was, sang the song, and prayed. He has such a bright personality. He'll be frequenting the clinic for further treatment. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.Today was a very long day.
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