DMH

Today Robert and I joined Ray and Jose at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital (DMH).  They are shadowing doctors and observing what they do, it was very interesting.  Since four extra people following you around can be a bit much, we split into pairs, with Robert and Jose going one way and Ray and I the other.  After I mentioned to a doctor that I was an engineer and not pre-med, he asked if I would like to tour the engineering department of the hospital.  I was able to follow the Director of Biomedical Engineering, Mr. Mahant, for the rest of the morning as he gave me a tour of the hospital and showed me all the equipment.

We started at a CT scan machine that had been taken apart for repairs - something was wrong with the rotor, so they were replacing the magnets.  I have never seen one of these machines with the cover off - it was very interesting.  We also saw the blood bank and all the equipment used to take, sort, test, and store donated blood, as well as a special pneumatic delivery system that allowed them to send samples to the pathology labs in seconds instead of physically walking up five flights of stairs.  We also toured radiology and the general and neonatal ICUs, where I saw syringe pumps, phototherapy tables and baby heaters, and a multi-patient monitoring system that displays the vital signs of all the patients in the ICU on two screens at a central station so that the nurses can easily keep track of everybody.  We briefly met up with Robert and Jose when we saw a stent being placed in cardiology, then headed to the roof of the hospital to see the lift winches for the elevators and the control box for the pneumatic delivery system.

The system was almost brand-new, only a few months old.  It resembled the system used at drive-thru banks, with tubes running to various locations within the hospital.  Doctors could load samples into canister and punch in a destination on the keypad, and the system delivers it seconds later.  On the roof was a small room (it also contained the lift winch for the service elevator, and I feel like it had only recently been converted into the pneumatic pump command center) with a small desk and a netbook laptop that ran the program controlling the system.  From there, Mr. Mahant could monitor all system activities as well as test the system to detect potential blockages in the tubes.  The system saves a lot of time and traffic within the hospital - now when a blood sample is taken at patient intake it can be sent directly up to pathology for testing without having to make someone walk up the stairs and deliver it.

I met up with Robert and Jose for lunch (we had no idea where Ray was), and we headed back to cardiology to continue watching that stent placement.  Later Dr. Amul invited us to watch two open-heart surgeries: one 70 year old man getting a bypass, the other a 7 month old girl who had a defect in her heart that allowed oxygenated blood to mix with oxygen-depleted blood.  While the surgeries were prepped, we had tea with the doctor and discussed healthcare in general; he pointed out that there are two major issues that cause almost all major health issues in India.  First, the high population density ensures that any disease that appears is quickly spread; second, the general public lacks the medical knowledge and reasoning that encourage hygiene, and as a result an environment is created that sustains many diseases.  He believes (and I agree) that a solution to either of these problems would go a long way to improving health in India, and indeed the world.

After tea we were ushered into a nurse lounge and given scrubs to change into.  A few nurses were sitting around eating lunch, taking a break, and watching the news on tv (more Baba Ramdev); we talked to them for a bit.  After a couple hours, we were told we could go into the operating room - the bypass patient first.  When we walked in they were just beginning the incision on his chest, so we waited in a corner until he was open and the surgery was underway.  Then one by one the nurse took us a bit closer to look - the man's heart was exposed.  I have never seen the inside of a person before; it was amazing to see his heart beating away, unprotected by a rib cage, while the surgeon continued his work around it.  We watched for a while, then moved to a different operating room where the 7 month old patient was being prepped.  However, it was getting late and we had to leave, so we did not see any of that surgery.

After leaving the hospital we went to the gym, where the trainer said they were still working on our schedules, so we did our own workouts again.  At one point, right at sunset, I looked out off the balcony and saw a double rainbow in a monsoon stormcloud that was colored a deep orange by the setting sun.  It was an amazing sight; I wish I had my camera with me at the time.  From the gym's 9th floor balcony we had a panoramic view of the city, so I could see clear blue skies off to the right, orange clouds and rainbows in front, and a violent black monsoon to the left - incredible.

While working out I also met Raj, and Indian man who speaks impeccable english - the Queen's English, based on the accent.  He recognized me as not being from around here (I wonder how...), and asked where I was from.  When I mentioned Rice and Texas, he said that he actually worked for a company called Compuserve in Dallas.  He, like almost all the other Indians I've met, was very friendly; maybe I'll see him at the gym again sometime.

We start work at Virgo tomorrow, and our car leaves at 8am, so I'm off to bed...