The MFO, being small, has limited healthcare options. Essentially, the same as a small-town clinic. So if a soldier needs a specialized exam or doctor, the go to hospitals in either Israel or Egypt. If you're used to the American healthcare system, you'll quickly realize not everybody has the same standard. Israel has good hospitals and providers, but has a "suck it up and drive on" mentality towards patients. Blunt, but geared towards patching people up and getting them on their way. Egypt has a "why are you bothering me, why don't you shut up and go away" mentality. Which is why I wasn't surprised that once again, I've received a bundle of MRI exams on CD which have multiple patient names and exams mixed up. Open the exam up on the computer, it gives the patient name and exam description. As you scroll through the images, I get to see the correct exam, then someone else's partial exam, the correct exam, then a third person's partial exam. I can't decide it it's simply apathy on the staff's part, or incompetence. Egypt is not the place to be seriously ill.
4 comments:
You are dead on (pardon the pun) with that statement. We were operating out of Alexandria back in the mid-80s, about half the crew got food poisoning from the box lunches; got them to the local ER, only to be turned away because "they were too sick and throwing up"...
Big wowie there. Damn few third-world countries are places where you want to be a patient in what passes for the local medical care. Come to that, there are quite a few supposed first-world countries where the same applies.
Old NFO,
I used to think medical care in the field was to be avoided until I saw what was available on the Egyptian side here. I'd rather be treated by an American field hospital any day.
I'll give Israel credit though, they have all the technical skills. Customer service is something they seem to regard as frivolous; when you come down to it, it's nice to have, but it's not necessary to a good outcome.
Anon-
In this case, it's disappointing because the US Gov poured a lot of money into the facility we use in order to have good quality care available. Like everything else here, you can build something really nice, but the concept of maintenance and organization seems to be lost on most of the staff.
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