COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Nursing and Paramedics
WRITTEN BY: Amelia Walsh & Ellen Brown
The week started with an exciting trip to the Trisuli River for some white water rafting. It was great fun, although we found it would be better suited for the warmer Nepali months. Braving the freezing water with our comical and cheeky rafting guides, we took on the icy rapids with only one overboard incident… Nice pink undies!
The exhilarating first day of rafting ended with a campfire on the sandy banks of the river. Fresh faced and bleary eyed we bravely took on the rapids for a second time the next day. Needless to say there was a lot of cheering when it was the other boat that capsized, plunging into the artic waters. Ekta and I decided to brave a rock jump though could not convince the rest of us to follow. The two days of laughter and memories were well worth the hyperthermia!
After an interesting and eye opening first week we have begun to settle in at the hospital (though nothing seems to make the 6am starts any easier). With our professional relationships with the staff beginning to strengthening we are seeing many interesting cases.
The most significant and distressing patient I saw in E.D. was a lady being half carried in with obvious chest pain, even through the language barrier. Ten minutes later it was decided that an ECG should be done and as it was being printed I noticed the most obvious anterior STEMI I had ever seen. Though, the most shocking part of this patient experience was that this lady had to lie in the emergency bed, being untreated for over an hour before it was decided she should go to ICU for treatment. This was especially hard to watch, especially since we tried to suggest treatment options and they were dismissed.
Another significant patient was a baby less than one year old, who came in looking very limp with a low level of consciousness. It was decided by a nurse that suction was necessary as the baby was suffering respiratory distress. This didn’t seem to improve the baby’s state so it was then nebulized with salbutamol. Hours later, the baby was sent to the paediatric ward and was diagnosed with late onset sepsis.
As well as feeling more comfortable in the hospital we are all feeling right at home with our host families. With a lovely visit from our older host sister and her husband from Kathmandu, we brought 'Christmas' to Nepal when we hosted a large family dinner. After a grueling recipe search we decided on fritta and salad with honeyed banana pancakes for dessert. Although the food was well received and devoured within minutes a second Nepali dinner was needed to keep the hungry masses at bay. Continuing in the Christmas spirit we stayed home with our families the next day for a rare festival treat of Sel Roti- deep fried ring of ground rice, sugar and ghee- and momo, which are Nepali dumplings. The family roared with laughter as our poor Western mouths were shocked after tasting the extremely hot momo filling (our lovely sister then watered ours down with mashed banana).
The second week ended with a trip into the jungle with a visit to the tourist region of Sauraha! Meeting up with the boisterous Antips health team from Kathmandu and our brilliant Dutch friends we bravely took on the jungle on foot with a surprise close up sighting of a Rhino. We basked in the beauty of the setting sun and relaxed in the tranquility of early morning canoe ride down the foggy river. We took full advantage of the Western amenities, thoroughly enjoying our first hot shower in weeks. With a break from Dhal Bhat we enjoyed the hospitality of the resort and partook in some much need relaxation and retail therapy.
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