Almost finished our ICU placement :(

Today and yesterday was business as usual on the ward rounds etc. We're starting to get the hang of the language barriers etc and our Consultant is very helpful in explaining to us whats going on. Yesterday we saw a woman come in who had had a scorpion bite, and we were able to see the Indian emergency protocol in action. It was an.. interesting experience, Alex said to me afterwards, 'If I get ill - you're putting the cannula in. OK?!'. She has recovered well though and is now a lot better, which just shows the quality of the health care system here in spite of the limits on funds and resources. Still... I'm going to be so much more careful of scorpions now (now with the added threat of cannulation).

Alex and I played cricket yesterday with some of the locals (well... alex played cricket, I was playing hockey with an odd shaped stick - anyone who has seen the photo of me trying to bat on facebook will know what i mean!). We also played some badminton - Alex giving me a thorough wooping, so i think he's quite looking forward to playing me again.

We are going into the surrounding villages today with some of the doctors on a 'Gospel Trip', which sounds like it will be a great experience. Oh, I dont think I've said much about the Hospital in the Community too. They provide health care at a secondary level (medium levels of resources etc) at about half the price of similar hospitals. However, if a patient can't afford treatment, they employ them in the hospital staff, therefore helping the local economy too. They also provide education for the children in the community, with an emphasis on hygiene and health etc, as well as on the Christian faith. Then there are also the community clinics and gospel trips that go into the wider community. So yeh, i pretty much love what they're doing here. You can tell that the people are really grateful for the help that the hospital gives!

We planned a trip to Kodaikanal today for saturday and sunday too, so we're looking forward to that! 

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