Thursday, November 25, 2010

Limited Resources

At Nkhoma Hospital, Malawi and many hospitals in developing countries, resources such as clean water and elcetricity can be intermittent or nonexistant affecting patient care dramatically. Although there are often back up generators and water in a bore hole which can be carried, the challenges are profound.



ELECTRICITY OUT
Electricity out -oxygen stops,
Electricity out- warning beeps,
Saturations drop, heart rates rise,  
Electricity out- no ultrasound,
Electricity out- computers surge and stop,
Electricity out-charts and children plunge into darkness,
A voice in the dark calling Ali Bwanji "How is he? How is she?
The child can be made out scarcely in the dim light of dawn,
Holding the chart up to the unscreened window,
Trying to make out the orders:
    the medications
          the hemoglobin result
                 the malaria smear
                        the temperature
                                the weight
Listening to this child whimpering  above the general  crying of children on the ward
Electricity out-spiritual warfare
Electricity out-battle cry

 

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