India: One Week, Four Places

Casualty in Santhiram General Hospital

The first patient I saw in the casualty was an old man who was so weak that he could not even lift his hands to drink water. He hadn’t been eating anything at home since a few days ago; he was only drinking juice at night. When he came to the casualty, the Casualty Medical Officer (CMO) offered him juice to drink in the morning; the patient look a gulp and turned his head away from the glass as if he didn’t want to drink anymore of it. Since this patient was stable, he was sent to the general medicine OP and was admitted.

Observing in the casualty was different from observing in the other departments because I was able to see how a patient’s diagnosis and treatment were connected to the patient’s medical history and how they involved multiple departments. I also got to see the financial circumstances of patients more clearly. One patient came in with his employer because he got badly injured when he was lifting heavy weights while working outside. These weights had landed on his shoulder and then on his feet, and in the process, they slit the palm of his hand. This patient came from Jharkhand to work and could not speak English or Telugu (the native language in Andhra Pradesh) so the employer told us most of what happened. The employer said that this patient could have died if the weights fell on him just a little differently. Through this story, I understood not only the medical side of his illness but also the social side of his illness. Then, on the same day, I saw a middle-aged man have a seizure as he was laying down on the hospital bed. Six people, many of whom were his relatives, were holding him down as the nurses were rushing toward the patient. Later that evening, I saw a woman who was stung by a scorpion as she was working in the fields in her village. She was in so much pain. She had tried using the native medications before coming to the hospital, but her pain was not being relieved so she came to the hospital three hours after being stung by a scorpion. Each day in the casualty was unique, and the stories that I heard were so interesting as I was able to better understand the lives of these individuals.

Hospital Beds in Casualty

Antenatal Session in Chapirevula

I went on a field visit through the SPM department to a village called Chapirevula to see an antenatal session that was sponsored by the government. I had already visited Chapirevula last week when I learned about vaccinations; that was in a government school. The antenatal session was in a Primary Health Centre. I was especially interested in how these vaccinations were being transported and stored. A cold chain system was being used to make sure that the vaccines don’t lose their potency; this means that vaccines are stored in the center of ice packs inside cold boxes.

Antenatal Session in Chapirevula

Government Hospital in Nandyal

I had been wanting to visit a government hospital, and I finally got to go this week. A general medicine physician at the government hospital in Nandyal said that the most common illnesses include hypertension, diabetes, iron deficiency anemia (especially among women), malaria, enteric fever, dengue fever, and pesticide poisoning. During my time in the general medicine department in the government hospital, tens of patients were lined up outside the OP room to see the doctor; there was a security guard in front of the OP room who was maintaining the line. When the security guard left for around ten minutes, more than ten patients started crowding inside the room and arguing about who was in the line first. The doctor said that the one thing that these patients were lacking was discipline because even though every patient would be seen eventually, each patient wanted to be seen as soon as possible. Every day, around 250 patients come into the general medicine OP and around 500 patients come into the OP of all departments in the hospital. If patients need to see a super-specialist, they are referred to the government hospitals in Kurnool because there are no super-specialists in the government hospital in Nandyal.

Government Hospital in Nandyal

Medical Camp in Nandavaram

I went to my first medical camp this week. It was in Nandavaram, which is a village that is almost an hour drive from Santhiram. This camp provided certain common medications for free. Over 160 people came in for a checkup. The most common conditions included hypertension, body pains, gas trouble, cataracts, pterygium, diarrhea, and fever. If the individual has had fever for a day or two, he/she is given medications; if the individual has had fever for a longer period of time, he/she is recommended to go to a hospital to get a blood test to determine if the illness is serious and requires a more specific treatment.

Medical Camp in Nandavaram

I cannot believe that next week will be my last full week in the Santhiram General Hospital. The past three months flew by so quickly, and I am determined to make next week even more memorable!