Medical Emergencies

Working at a hospital school – not a school for the patients, but for the kids of doctors. School is on the hospital premises. Medical emergencies shouldn’t be a problem. Hell, it shouldn’t even be happening. Can’t recall ever having had so many incidents in such a short period of time.

·         Playing basketball. Ahmad had a bad catch and bent his middle finger 90 degrees backwards. (bent in the middle) Before I could vomit, he had pulled it straight himself. I have seen rugby players (big men) do that, but not a child. His mom took him to ER. They bandaged it and told him to be careful.

·         Playing football. Ibrahim made a tackle, tripped and landed on his knee. He was in agony and couldn’t walk. I carried him back to school. He was taken to ER. They bandaged it. Two days later he was running x-country and sprints!

·         Ahmad was also running x-country. His knee packed up and he stopped running. He’s been limping since. He refuses to stop playing games. He insisted on playing football. He stood in the middle of the field and blocked the ball when it came his way. (He was not the worst player on the field!) Week later he was playing tennis (still with that leg not healed) Told his mother I didn’t think he should be doing any sport and that they should have it checked out. (Father is a doctor – what do I know?)

·         Ahmad ran back after break, tripped and hit the pavement with his hand. Thumb immediately swollen. By now, I’ve had it with all these accidents and surely doctors should know how to take care of their own. I pressed a pack of frozen peas in his hand (Discovered the peas in the staffroom fridge/freezer – I now know why it’s there!) His father took him for x-rays. Nothing broken. They bandaged it. Day later, bandage is off. Handwriting dodgy but normal.

·         Ahmed not feeling well. Lies on his arms. Looks pale. Wants to vomit. Phone parents to come fetch him. When they pitch, he’s at midday-prayer. First time this year! Either he thought he was being punished and had to repent, or he was trying to impress them coz he knew they were on their way over. This happened today. I am not concerned. He will be back tomorrow as if today never happened.

Closing note – I have twelve boys in my class. Six of them are named Ahmad.  Above incidents happened to four different Ahmads.

And for future reference: Keep the frozen peas handy, make sure the problem area is bandaged and wait 24 hours. After that, return to normal. Guaranteed to work.