Unpredictable Events

Drove myself & Jeff to Lot 1 after work today. My mom's been pestering me non stop to buy kitchen rolls for the doggies. My 1st stop was at Giordano coz I've been jeans-less for about 2 mths. I did go at the right time coz there was 10% discount. We then headed to NTUC.

I got some vege for the doggies' meal, Jeff got for himself sweet potato. As we were walking towards the kitchen roll section, we heard a loud thud. It was quite crowded & I couldn't clearly see what happened. An employee ran towards the source of the sound & said to herself "Si la, si la, si la!" (Die lah, die lah, die lah). As she ran, the crowd parted slightly & I saw an old indian man on the floor. He had hit his head & there was a small puddle of blood on the floor. It was then he started jerking. Immediately, I told Jeff, "OMG, he's throwing a fit!". He rushed forward, pushing all the bystanders aside.

He turned the man onto his side in recovery position & his vomitus flowed out from his mouth. This is very important coz he could choke on his vomitus & being unconscious, he wouldn't be able to cough & wouldn't be able to breathe. There was also this "nurse" in orange uniform who came forward to help. I'm not too sure if she's a nurse lah. (Jeff told me some funny things later.) 1 employee came to give Jeff gauze to stop the bleeding. I rushed to tear 1 plastic bag for him to act as a glove. (You can't be too careful when dealing with blood.) Then this was when the 2nd funny thing happened which I'm not gonna post.

Another employee came to tell us that they've already called for a doctor at a nearby clinic within the mall. I was wondering, why not call for an ambulance straight? It was so obvious that this man needed hospital care. There was a huge haematoma (aka baluku) on his occipital region(back of the head). For such huge impact head injury, he should have a CT scan done to make sure there's no bleeding inside his brain. I voiced my concern to Jeff. 3rd funny thing. By now, the man was starting to regain consciousness & was either confused or disorientated. He kept wanting to stand up despite the "nurse" telling him in tamil not to do so. He would obey only to repeat it again.

Finally, we had enough of waiting & I called for an ambulance. The doctor from the clinic came but there wasn't anything he could do as well as all the 1st aid had been rendered. He asked his assistant who came with him to get a wheelchair to bring him back to the clinic coz the bystanders were just staring. Then an aunty came forward & without knowing head or tail, insisted that we bandage the head to stop the bleeding. Can't she see that the bleeding had already stopped? She kept telling the doctor (I bet she doesn't know he's a doctor) "No! Don't wipe away the blood (already dried)! Bandage the head or the bleeding won't stop!". She refused to listen when we told her that he's no longer bleeding. I think I repeated it to her several times before she got the message.

The man was wheeled back to the clinic. But not before the 4th funny thing happened. We resumed our "shopping". Actually, I only have to grab the kitchen roll & I'm done. As we were leaving Lot 1's carpark, Jeff pointed out to me the ambulance parked at the side & the man in the stretcher. I only took 1 glance coz I was going upslope towards the barrier.

Jeff then told me that the man was jaundiced, possibly by alcoholic liver cirrhosis (hardening of the liver from excessive alcohol). I just felt so sad. I thought of the quality of life he will have. More tests? Treatments? Waiting for time? I hope he's in good hands now. I'm working in this line & I know how bad the care can be, especially in a C class ward where he'll most likely end up in. Where everybody's overworked & understaffed. :X I'm just so speechless. Coz there's nothing you can do when it comes to things like these. I just feel so helpless. How do you stop death? How do you stop your body from deteriorating?