In the 5 months or so that I've worked at my current job there's a unanimous consensus as to whom the number 1 killer is. And if patients don't die they often acquire long-lasting sequelae, which will mark their lives forever.
I'll never forget the day when a woman carried into the ER a 2-year old girl. I quickly examined the child, and from then on it was complete chaos. She was extremely pale (had little blood). Her extremities were cold and her pulse was weak. She was in shock. I began running all over with the parents to get her a blood transfusion, a fairly straight-forward process...most of the time. Once in a while, the blood bank may run out so parents have to search for blood elsewhere or you may have to wait a while for the hospital to restock from the neighboring medical institution. In other words, it's a matter of luck or grace (as we Christians like to call it).
So I finished making arrangements for my patient's blood transfusion and was watching over her. I wasn't exactly calm because she was already unconscious but I knew her blood would be there in no time and would save her. So I turned to something else for a few minutes only for my colleague to call me. The girl had stopped breathing. Let me tell you how I sprinted to the lab to inquire about the blood. No, I can't because I myself don't even know how I did it. And the blood was right there; it was served. So I rushed back to the ER but she was gone!!! I had blood but where was life? My heart skipped a beat. And at the same time, the blood smear results came in. She had a thunderstorm...of MALARIA. The smooth murderer had struck again.
To be continued...
