Walking in the darkness


On Friday, November 4, 2016 I went to the hospital for my first night shift. The purpose of my visit was to learn about night shift patient population characteristics and staff activities. Our facility operates 24 hours a day, throughout the week. However, we are usually busy during the day and afternoon hours with sporadic emergency cases presenting during the night shift hours.

Since I live about 10 minutes from the hospital, I had to walk on my dusty road to the hospital and began my commute around 9pm local time. This was my first time venturing out on this road at that time of the night and as I made my way toward the hospital I began wondering about all the critters (snakes and scorpions) I had seen on the road during day time. Since there aren’t any street lights on this road, my flashlight came in handy but it wasn’t powerful enough to abate the darkness around me. However, I was reminded of the truth contained in Psalm 23 as I walked down on the dark road and that brought profound peace.

Light source from my flash light as I walked to the hospital


There is a pond, about 5 minutes from my house, beside the dusty road. As I walked closer to the pond, I heard voices. There were some guys cleaning their vans in the darkness with the only light source being the vehicles’ headlights. Did I mention that snakes and scorpions patrol this road too?  I am certain these critters stop by the pond for a drink as they go about their critter business at nighttime.

Light source from a van beside the pond



The hospital had placed street lights on this road but they are all broken and haven’t been replaced. So, there is total darkness on this road at night. The hospital’s manager has a plan for fixing the lights as soon as the facility has extra funds. We are all crossing our fingers because it’s risky walking in the darkness on this road and it is used by hospital staff and townspeople constantly. 

Light source from a house about 200 yards from the road



My first night shift at the hospital was exciting. I helped with an emergency baby delivery at the maternity unit in addition to stabilizing a young man having symptoms of a heart attack at the emergency unit.  Both patients had good outcomes. I learned that apart from the emergency unit staff, most of the hospital staff take naps during their shifts. Apparently, this is a normal thing since most of the patients are asleep during the night hours and do not require any emergency care. I’m planning on another night shift visit in a few weeks. Stay tuned J

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
The Beard must go…. The past week has been very busy albeit interesting. Esther (my sister) visited on Wednesday and advised me to shave the beard I’ve been growing. Apparently, having a beard in Ghana is associated with being a Muslim. She is scared of men with beards. Nevertheless, she hugged me so that was nice. We had a good visit and it was good to see her again. Esther and I at the mission guest house in Tanoso. She says the beard must go ;)  The team spent 4 days (Thursday – Sunday) at Agona Swedro (Central Region) with clinics and crusades held at Beseadze (about 30-minute drive from Agona). Agona Swedro is in the Central region and about a 2.5 hour from Kumasi (Ashanti region). The location of the clinics and crusades was between a shrine and a mosque. In Ghana, shrines are used by traditional believers (they worship tress, stones, rivers and animals). Therefore, we found it interesting that such a location was approved by the chief. But, the chief has aut...
Read more

One week Medical Mission in Ankaase

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here. Lots have happened since my last post including a recent marriage and job transfer to the Philadelphia area. The Lord has been good to us. On September 21, 2018 I joined Randall Brooks, Dan Chettleburgh, Leigh Scott and Linda Forbes, physical, occupational and recreational therapists from South Bend (Indiana), at JFK for a flight to Ghana. We traveled to Ankaase to work on improving function for stroke patients. We will also be working with  patients with musculoskeletal injuries/pain. The team's Facebook page and pictures can be assessed   here    The journey to Ankaase was uneventful. We arrived on Saturday September 22, 2018  1 pm local time and settled in the hospital’s guest house. Currently, Ghana is 4 hours ahead of eastern standard time. After a brief resting period, we toured the town and took in the sights and scenes. On Sunday September 23, we attended a community church service that was ...
Read more

Preventive Healthcare

Image
On Friday May 19, 2017 I joined community health nurses (CHN) from the hospital and traveled 3 miles Northwest of Ankaase to Dumakyi, a small farming community, to conduct vaccination screening, also known locally as a health outreach program. Dumakyi lacks running water, electricity and basic public transportation. Residents, mostly cocoa farmers living in mud thatched houses, walk to the hospital, 3 miles away, when they are sick. The distance and lack of transportation discourages them from bringing their children for scheduled clinical review and obtaining the required vaccinations. To combat this problem, CHNs visit and vaccinate the children right in their backyard. CHNs setting up under the teak tree. Some students milling about the place before class. We arrived at 9:30 am on Friday morning and set up office under a teak tree in front of the local primary/middle school. Despite bringing the free vaccination exercise to the community, parents are still reluctant to...
Read more