Thursday, November 15, 2007

WORDS YOU NEVER WANT TO HEAR....

Can you imagine what they would be?

Say you were a health care provider in a third world country, out in the African bush. What would they be?

For me, the words I don't like to hear... especially when I have just returned from the clinic and am in the middle of cooking lunch. Those words are... a patient just arrived, snake bite. There are several kinds of snakes in The Gambia. Some are not poisonous, some are. If you ask me, they all are. (I tell people if I saw a snake I would have a heart attack and drop to the ground where the snake would be able to bite me.... and I would die either from his poison or from the heart attack.) The villagers fear the Black snake. But again, there are two kinds of black snakes... deadly and not so deadly. Well, upon hearing these words today. I turned off the stove and headed to the clinic. Checked out the patient... he was bit on the middle finger while out in the fields this morning. He had to walk home and then find a donkey cart to bring him to the clinic. Praise God he looked good. Vitals were stable. I got out the stun gun. (controversial treatment... but please use it on me.) And gave him quite a few shocks, I know the gun worked because I got a little jolt when I had my hand too close to the gun. Reminded me of touching the electric fence when I was a kid. The nest phase of his treatment was a referral ride to the hospital 22 kilometers away, they should be able to get him some snake anti-venom. Praise God for the Stun Gun!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Suellen; I hate snakes. When I was a kid others would pick up garden snakes and scare me with them. I'm sorry about NK. You and her family will be in our prayers.
Love; Bob & Linda

darlene said...

Keep you in my prayers. I would have had to use the stun gun on me!! I don´t know how you do it.