Emergency Care in Hospitals

A friend of mine met with an accident yesterday, and I accompanied him to a popular hospital nearby. He did not suffer very severe injuries, but had injured three of his finders, and was unable to move any of them. One of the wounds was bleeding. And the only reason for choosing that hospital was because it was very close to where we were at that time.

First, no clear indications on what to do. We went to the “May I Help You” desk and asked. They asked us to get to the “Emergency Care” section right away. We went, and he was asked if this was the first time he was coming to the hospital. When he answered yes, they gave him, get this straight, a FORM to fill up and register! People, this is a guy who has injured his fingers. Anyway, I filled up the form, completed the “Registration” process, which included paying Rs. 50 for a fancy registration card that one’s supposed to carry the next time they’re here.

Go back to the “Emergency Care” section, and the doc looks at the injury and says – “Go to Ortho Department”. Well, what do we do? We go to the Ortho Department. The lady at the reception, who just can’t seem to get off the phone, says “You have not paid the consultation charges!” I’m like “Duh!” And she says “Go back to the Registration Desk, pay the consultation charges, and only then the Doctor will see you”. Me goes back to “Registration Desk”, stands in the queue, pays the Rs. 250, comes back to “Ortho Department”, shows slip to lady, and she says “Sit down and wait”. We wait.

Someone calls my friend’s name, and we walk into the Doctor’s cabin. The Doctor is an elderly gentleman, who seems to be in a lot of rush. He asks the nurse to remove the bandages, and send my friend for an X-Ray. The entire time spent in the cabin was less than a minute. He didn’t wait for my friend to complain, nor did he listen to him. In the dressing room, the nurse removes the bandages, hands over a form that is meant for the “X-Ray Department”.

We go the “X-Ray Department” and once again, the process starts. I have to find the cash counter, pay Rs. 150 and show the receipt to the receptionist. We wait. Someone calls his name. He goes in, gets the X-Ray done, and is out. They say 45 minutes for the X-Ray to be ready. My friend asks – “45 Mins??” The answer comes back – “30 Minutes”. We have something to eat, since it’s lunchtime and get back. The X-Ray is done, but the lady says – “If you want the Radiologist’s report, you’ll have to wait for 3 hours”. No thanks!

Back in the “Ortho Department”, the doctor confirms that no bones were broken, and prescribes some medicine. He says that the wounds will heal in sometime, but there will be pain. One of the fingers has sustained internal injuries because of which it appears blue in color. This will become all right with time.

We entered the hospital at around 11 AM, and the entire “Emergency” process took 3 hours.

I’m a little out of words right now to express myself, but I kind of get the feeling that you already understood.

Oh, in case you’re really curious, the Hospital’s on Airport Road (in Bangalore), right opposite to a famous Hotel.