Early bus, scenery, hospital, scenery

No class today! Instead, we split into two groups to go to hospitals in Costa Rica and learn about our coming work environment. Luckily, my partner and I were in the group with Ric, our technical instructor from the Philippines who has an enormous background in technical medical work. He knew countless details about every machine we encountered and was able to give specific, exact answers to all of our questions.

We were told beforehand that the hospitals in Costa Rica would be quite good in comparison to those we would be working at in Nicaragua and Honduras. However, the standards that I witnessed today, especially concerning sanitation, appeared to be rather low compared to the sanitation practices in the United States. Also, equipment and supplies were noticeably low or of older makes and models.

Patients are kept in large, open rooms divided by the nature of their problems (ICU, recovery, maternity, etc.). One side of the hospital was specifically for male patients, while the other side was for females, except in the emergency room. The emergency room provided care on the spot, and people were sitting around with oxygen masks on or IV drips running while waiting for more specific attention.

All Costa Ricans are obligated to pay 12% of their salaries to the public healthcare system. While emergency care is initially given without prior patient documentation, all other healthcare can only be received after the patient has presented a paper to the hospital staff which confirms that he or she has been paying the healthcare tax.

Ric taught us many specific workings and functions of the various machines we encountered, including an AED, ventilator, endoscope, portable x-ray machine, and an ECG. Although we were working in the hospital’s area for junked equipment, Ric found in his investigations that most of the machinery was in perfect working order. This waste of the equipment was extremely frustrating to him, as he lamented to us many times.

During our return trip from the hospital in Turrialba, the scenery was breathtaking and I had a clear view of the volcano. Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing even more of the countryside as our group goes to Monteverde to ride ziplines through the jungle and tour the canopy of the tropical rainforest. However, there will probably be no blog tomorrow because I am unlikely to have internet access. Adios!