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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Emergency !


Emergency ! Somebody, please help me!

Pay a visit to any hospital emergency department and you will meet at least one person from every sector of the community. You might be from the upmarket district or just one of the ordinary folks, but in emergency we all have one thing in common: Pain!

I was the victim of a crash that resulted in a broken leg. I was duly shipped by ambulance to the emergency department of Hospital Arnau de Villanova, in Valencia City. Firstly, at the very outset if we are going to talk about emergency care we have to acknowledge the staff. Whether the person who deals with you is of good disposition, or one who got out of bed on the wrong side, we must still give them their due. A typical working day for these people is nothing even remotely close to normal.

So, let’s take our hats off and give a sincere round of appreciation to the staffs, because someone has to do it. How they cope is way beyond my comprehension.

I was wheeled into the lobby at 11:30am, and the ambulance driver went to the reception to check me in. This was the first time that I had been taken by ambulance, and I must say that I was a little bit disappointed. The driver never used the siren even once. It also seems that the Spanish ambulance service is a bit different from what I am accustomed. Generally I expect there to be on board para-medics to give assistance enroute, but here they aregenerally speaking, a transportation service.

Once the driver had checked me in through reception he left. After a short-ish wait my name was called to go to the Sala de Clasficaión, which I took to be Triage. There a quick assessment of my condition was made and I was classified according to the urgency of my situation.

Then I was wheeled back into the hall to wait some more. Again, my name was called to go to the Sala de Ambulatorios where I gave much more detailed information, such as the answer to the question: “Are you allergic to any medicines?” This is a tricky one because you can only say whether you have encountered anything bad. You don’t know what they are going to give you.

Then back out into the hall where in fairly short order my name was called again, this time to go to x-ray. My left foot was photographed and I was sent back out into the hall. The time was one pm. My next port of call would be the doctor in the trauma room. They finally called me in at 5:20pm. This is the problem about big city emergencies. The pressure of so many people needing to be seen is such that waiting times are extraordinarily long. Bear in mind that I am sitting there with a broken leg that has not received any first-aid attention at all. A cold compress to reduce the swelling would have been good.

What does one do when you have five and a half hours to wait? Fortunately for me I had a newspaper with me and I read the bits that I never go anywhere near. Mainly, in a situation like that, a writer will observe and then start to make notes because this was a very rich pageant passing before me indeed.

The waiting area was full when I arrived and there never was an unoccupied seat. As soon as a seat was vacated the next person filled it. Even the bank of wheelchairs had able-bodied people sitting in them which still left people standing.

The Spanish worker loves his coffee break, but unless there’s a well-oiled system of relief there is no way you could get away from your desk, even for a bathroom break.

Two women who stood nearby were having a conversation by signing each other. That left me wondering whether the signs materially change with the language. Then, the mobile phone of one of the ladies rang and she answered it. I assumed that she was someone who could hear and speak normally, and that she was there to help her friend, but to my surprise she flipped the cover and then she started signing the person who appeared on the screen. I thought that was really useful, a modified mobile for the deaf and speech impaired.

If you were accompanying someone you got a green sticky card to paste onto your clothing. I know that it was not intended to resemble the Jewish star that the Jews wore during the dark times of the nazis, but, still I was reminded.

A man came rushing into the area, together with three others. Evidently he was a motor mechanic as his hands were covered in oil. He was holding one hand that had apparently been crushed in an accident. He was put through the same routine that I was, and I thought that his wait was far too long for someone in so much pain. He still hadn’t been seen by the time I went in. I thought he should have been called in before me.

The ambulances continued to roll up and discharge their precious cargoes. With many of their patients they jumped the line and went straight into classification and then directly into the treatment rooms. These people were in serious life-threatening situations and time was of the essence.

There were a couple of very odd situations like the three nurses who, walking together passed up and down the corridor eight times, always in the same configuration. There didn’t appear to be any purpose to their taking a walk. On the eighth time they left the hospital as they had changed into their street clothes.

There was a woman with a green tag that she kept changing from one breast to the other. She never stood still for the whole five hours. There were also two guards standing at the doors to the treatment rooms. I’m sure there is a good reason for that, but they never seemed to actually do anything.

On a more serious side there was all the drama and angst of people who accompanied their loved ones in and hovered over them worryingly, and the most heart-breaking of all were those who came rushing in having been informed someone close had been brought in. They were almost always hysterical. I have had that experience myself.

Finally, when I was called in to see the doctor she informed me that my leg was broken and that I would have to be sent to another hospital to be operated on. I made my choice of hospital and arrived by ambulance at 6pm, only to have to start the process all over again.

You have to laugh, or cry!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Life can be Funny/ Strange/ Peculiar




Life can be Funny/ Strange/ Peculiar and a Whole lot More!

On Sunday 11th October I wrote in my other blog, "From the Driver's Seat.blogspot.com" an article about “Selfish Motorists.” It was brought on by the fact that I have witnessed countless acts of absolute self-centeredness here in Spain that would get one killed in certain other parts of the world. The last straw was the couple with a “Wales” sticker on their car who drove into a Mercadona car park and deliberately took up two spaces, both reserved for the handicapped.

I though of having a dialogue with them, but anybody so cold as to do such a thing is not about to learn anything from me. I reasoned that they have to experience for themselves what it is like to be a handicapped person, even on a temporary basis, and to have their rights trampled upon by the selfish and uncaring. I ended that rant with an appeal to respect the rights of the handicapped before ourselves needing those rights.

Well, life can be funny and strange and peculiar. On Wednesday, October the 14th, while riding my motorcycle in my little village I came face to face with a car that was moving against the lawful direction of traffic and I went down in a slow-motion crash and broke my leg.

I don’t ever recall having parked in a handicapped space, or otherwise abused the rights of the handicapped. In fact, on occasion I have actively worked to benefit those not fully able, so the question arises why me? The answer can only be that I have opened the subject, and now I must carry through and share with readers what it is like being disabled. Hopefully, some good will come from my story.

The crash occurred at 10:45am, and neither vehicle was damaged. I took myself to the nearest clinic and they despatched me to hospital by ambulance. Any emergency department of a big city hospital must be the most interesting place on earth. I was taken to the Hospital Arnau de Villanova in Valencia. Here we see humanity at its most vulnerable. Pain and discomfit is the great leveller. In the outside world you may be a mover and shaker, but in here we all speak the same language, and that is “Help Me Please!”

The crush of people needing to be seen right away is daunting, and I have collected notes from my observations that I will make into a separate blog. For now it is sufficient to say that I was checked in at reception, then passed along through triage, and another office that took more in-depth information from me, and then to x-ray, and after five hours waiting, I finally saw the doctor in the trauma unit.

“I have to tell you that you have broken your leg and an operation will be required to reset it.” Not good news, but also not unexpected. I requested that I be transferred to the hospital that my insurance uses, “el hospital nou de octubre.” I was delivered to their emergency department where the process started all over again, and eventually by 11pm I was admitted and in my room.

The operation took place the next day and was successfully completed in spite of the break being in the most problematic place in my leg. I now am carrying two long screws that periodically give me electrical shocks. Airport security will now be an interesting experience. The extraordinary thing to bear in mind is that it was one year ago, October 16th that I was at this hospital having a bunion removed, and now I was having more surgery on the same foot.

I must not leave the hospital without saying how absolutely professional everyone is. They are super busy but are able to maintain their good nature, and even inject a smile every so often, which is just as good as any other medicine.

Now I am at home with a heavy cast on my left leg, and I have to cope. My wife is wonderful, but she will return to work during the week, so I will have to learn to deal with everyday tasks. Already I am finding that there are very little things that annoy me. I have converted my office chair with wheels into a wheel chair. Some of the floor tiles are uneven, something I don’t even realise normally, but they stop my chair and make moving about difficult.

Whether I’m moving about on my crutches or in my chair, I’m suddenly being left behind as the whole world passes me by. From my chair I’m constantly looking up, and I do notice that I have become invisible to most of the world that just doesn’t have the time for Mr. Go-Slow.

From my last experience on crutches, I remember having stumbled and I nearly fell in the street. That was met by outright laughter from two women who must have seen it as something from Monty Python. I don’t expect to be going too far for a while. In fact, the authorities might like to think about hobbling prisoners in this way with a heavy cast-like apparatus on a leg. They could stay at home without making too much mischief.

Stay tuned, as there will be more to report in the future. Meanwhile, please respect the rights of the disabled. You never know when you might need those rights yourself.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The President and the Nobel Prize




“President Barrack Obama awarded The Nobel Peace Prize.”

Topic “A” this week is the above headline that gave the world pause. President Obama himself said that he was surprised and humbled. The world was surprised. The question of the week is “Why Obama?”

President Obama has only been in office ten months, how could he earn such a coveted acknowledgement? He is prosecuting two American led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These were not wars that he imposed, but the war in Iraq is being wound down in so far as American troop involvement is concerned, however America will always have a presence there to avoid the country erupting into all-out civil war. Next-door in Afghanistan, that war with the Taliban must be won. There are 42 nations participating against the enemy, so there can be no simple matter of just packing up and going home. The Taliban and Al Quaida must be defeated as their ideologies are as insidious as the Nazis.

President Obama is being encouraged to flood the country with American troops in an effort to overrun the enemy, but the enemy are already setting up shop in Somalia. These conflicts will carry on long after the President has left office.

Meanwhile, the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians continues. Animosity and tit-for-tat killings are as much a part of the very fabric of their lives, so there is no possibility of peace in that region anytime soon. The president may indeed have the best of intentions but it simply is not going to happen.

While I don’t know exactly what Alfred Nobel intended as the criteria for being considered a recipient of the Noble Peace Prize, I can safely assume that bringing about, or promoting peace is in the mix. Given that, what has the president actually done to promote peace?

Under George W. Bush America had become a despised nation in the view of the world. Under his administration he talked about an axis of evil, meaning Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. However, a great many people saw the axis as being Bush himself, his vice-president Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defence. President Obama recognised this and he has set about putting a human face on the United States again. He has reached out to Europe, to South America, including Cuba, to Russia, and especially he has reached out to the Islamic nation. I therefore believe that this award is as much about encouragement as anything else.

Clearly President Obama is not about winning awards. The surprise of which he speaks will be genuine, and he will no doubt continue his efforts at promoting the peace. However, he will not be a pushover for any hostile nation. Anyone who wishes to attack the United States on his watch will be in for a very nasty response, Peace Prize or not. As America’s first Afro-American president he does have a lot to prove. Simply getting elected was his first test. His second test was to take broken America and to fix it.



We all said that his job was impossible; America had been left in such a bad condition. Most people would have given up in despair, but not Barack Obama. His credo of “Yes We Can!” has never been tested to such a degree, but he has turned the ship of state away from the rocks and it is headed toward calmer waters, at least for now.

President Obama’s strength lies in the fact that he is an honest broker. He is a man of great integrity and he is true to his word Above all else he can be trusted. In America politics is everything. Rarely can you get a completely straight answer; there are only Democratic or Republican answers. However, President Obama could be the only sitting president in the history of the United States to gain a second term, unopposed if he is given enough cooperation to implement his policies that benefit both Republicans and Democrats alike.

Time will tell!

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Animal Husbandry






Summer and Winter
I have a shaggy dog whose name is Winter. I have written about Winter before and his girlfriend whom I call Summer. Sometimes we also call her Skinny, as she is such a small dog.

This is really about her as she is a very curious study. She is not our dog, but is from somewhere in the neighbourhood. She is a very good companion for Winter, who is an old man. Watching them together is a wonderful example of love in the animal kingdom. Make no mistake about it, animals care for one another and they do have delicate feelings.

The thing about Summer that is so interesting is how distrusting she is of people. She has been hanging around our property for well over a year but she cannot be touched. She keeps her distance, even if that distance is very short at times. She wants to be loved and petted, but she just cannot bring herself to allow us to get that close.

Evidently she has been badly abused by humans. I don’t even like to think about how harsh that treatment has been to make her so cautious. It’s a shame really as she does have a sweet disposition. Winter was recently very ill, and it was she who fussed over him and drew my attention to the fact that he needed care. I could see that for myself, but she was clearly concerned about him. When I put him in the car she almost climbed in with him.

My idea of caring for animals is that I should treat them with care, but not necessarily going over the top. I ensure that they are fed in clean dishes and watered and given a warm and dry place to sleep. They should have the opportunity for exercise, and when they need medical attention I ensure that they get it. I don’t treat animals as though they were my children, nor do I spend excessive amounts of time in grooming them.

The dogs do not come into the house, as to allow that would result in a ton of dog’s hair accumulating everywhere, and it is not necessary. Our cat does have access, because cats go wherever they want. For a time I would take Winter for walks, but in reality he seems to prefer simply running through the countryside that is covered by orange groves. That suits me just fine, although it was a source of good exercise for me.

I had another dog, a cross breed whom I called Chester. He was a fantastic guard, but had to be carefully monitored as he was considered a dangerous breed. He would annoy me because he was forever escaping from the property and going off on his own. He once took Winter with him and they were gone for almost two months. However, even in those moments when I was so angry with him I was restrained from being cruel to him.

Cruelty to animals is not something I approve of. For that reason I cannot condone the Spanish Bullfight, as the animal is subjected to the most awful form of violence. Considering that it is being slaughtered for food, what it goes through as part of the show is just not necessary.



Winter is suffering with a heart congestion condition and we are keeping him alive. The summer heat would have killed him had it not been for a vigorous and expensive program, but we have been successful.

This was not the first time that we spent such an effort to keep him going. His previous owners moved into a city apartment and were faced with either our taking him, or putting him to death. Then, to make matters more complicated he was diagnosed with leishmania. Again, much work had to be done to defeat that. Sometimes I wonder why I go to such lengths to keep him going. He isn’t even my dog, and I’m not all that fond of him. When I first encountered him I though he was the most awful dog in the world. It was our son who agreed to take Winter, but now our son is in Australia.

I do what I must for Winter because it is part of my beliefs that when we accept an animal we become responsible for its welfare. To treat the animal with anything less than due regard is against my principles.

Copyright © 2009 Eugene Carmichael