Charity Begins at Home

 

Dr Etim looked at his watch. The time was 1:35 pm. He felt lucky to have had as much time to rest during work. He held his bottle of Coca Cola and watched the traffic from the sixth floor of the hospital. He always enjoyed the panoramic view of the buzzing city and the cool breeze that blew against his face whenever he could take a break at work. Such lucky days were few since he started working at St Caroline Multi-Specialty Hospital, a 200-bed medical facility.

He loathed the management's decision that mandated the most senior doctor to be the first-contact doctor for every emergency. His hospital changed the policy following three consecutive preventable deaths of patients.

During an analysis of the deaths, it was noted that doctors with less than two years of experience were the ones who attended to the patients when they first arrived at the hospital.

Dr E, as he was fondly called, had spent twelve years in the hospital. He had an interest in emergency medicine. He had completed all the basic and advanced courses in cardiac life support and other critical care programmes. The directors reached a unanimous agreement when they decided to mobilize him from the surgery department to the emergency unit. He disliked the long hours of standing during the nine hours shift, which often got longer depending on the stability of the patients.

“I am bidding my time; I have given enough service in this hospital,” he mused as he heard the sound of an ambulance nearby. He hoped the ambulance was not heading towards his hospital. He looked at his watch anxiously. He had fifteen minutes left of his break. The sound from the siren got louder. He watched as cars moved within an inch of one another to give way for the ambulance. His heart beat faster. “Not again,” he sighed when he saw the ambulance drive into the hospital.

He did not wait to hear his name on the public address system; he knew he would be called to attend to the new patient. He headed for the ground floor where the emergency unit was situated. 

“I need a doctor please; my friend is sick,” a middle-aged man screamed as he ran into the hospital reception. Two nurses followed him to the ambulance. Lying on the lap of a woman was a young man. He could not move his right arm and right leg. His face was uneven. He grunted. He could not make an audible speech when the nurse asked him for his name. “His name is Mr Akapo. I am his wife,” the woman responded.

The more senior nurse wrapped the cuff of the sphygmomanometer around the patient’s left arm. His pulse was 58 beats per minute. His blood pressure was 248/132 mmHg. His oxygen saturation was 90%.

“Please, don’t let him die,” his wife pleaded when she saw the digits of his blood pressure. Dr Etim had arrived when the blood pressure machine showed a red colour which only appeared when blood pressures were extremely high. He looked at the nurses and communicated non-verbally with them. The new patient had suffered a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) with total paralysis of his right limbs and aphasia (inability to speak). The man was the third patient with stroke they admitted that day.

The man was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit, where fluids and medication to lower his blood pressure were given to him. Within ten minutes of his arrival, a CT scan of his brain was done. The result showed that he had bled into the left side of his brain. The neurosurgical team was called immediately to review him. Dr Etim handed the patient to the critical care team and returned to the emergency unit.

All the while, the patient’s friend and his wife kept pacing up and down the reception. His friend was restless. He was the one who paid the three million naira deposit required to admit the patient. “Doctor, please, don’t let my friend die,” he said when he saw Dr Etim jogging along the corridor.

“We will do our best, sir,” Dr Etim said. 

Touched by the man’s benevolence, Dr Etim asked him, “When was the last time you checked your blood pressure, sir?”

“Oh! I am fine. I have not checked it in the past three years. I have been fit. My blood pressure should be okay, doc,” the man responded dismissively.

“Do you mind checking it in my office?” the doctor suggested. The man followed him reluctantly.

Both of them sat quietly in Dr Etim’s office for fifteen minutes. Dr Etim decided to check his blood pressure first. He did so to encourage the man. The machine showed a lemon colour which signified normal value. The doctor’s numbers were 112/68 mmHg. “My blood pressure is normal. It is below 120/80mmHg,” Dr E explained to the man. “Check yours too.”

The man rolled up his sleeves and wrapped the cuff of the machine around his right arm. The blood pressure meter showed a red colour. 220/110 mmHg flashed on the screen.

“What!” the man screamed. “This is impossible. May I check my left arm?”

“Sure. I would have checked it also to know which of your arms has the higher value,” Dr Etim responded in an expressionless manner. He had seen many patients with alarmingly high blood pressures who had no complaints.

The man’s left arm gave a value of 216/104 mmHg. “My God!” he exclaimed. “What does this mean, doc?” he asked while dabbing a brow of sweat on his forehead.

“You have been hypertensive for a long time without knowing. Your blood pressure could not have become suddenly high like this. Hypertension is a silent killer.”

“My goodness! So, I am also hypertensive and have not cared for myself for so long? I thought my friend was unfortunate when I saw his elevated blood pressure today.”

“You would be fine if you follow the recommendations I tell you and use your medications regularly.”

“Doc. I will do everything you say. Charity begins at home. I should take care of myself first before others.”

Dr Etim nodded in agreement…

#Fiction

#Health Education