Semester 4: Part 1 (KK Bako)

I dunno why i always have this tendency to reminiscing about the past and then reflect myself on what has been happening in my life. When we are looking back in the past, we know what we might have done wrong and what we might have done right in order to improve ourselves in the present. Chewah, ala-ala pakar motivasi la pula.
Now let us look back at last year... I was entering semester 4 that time. Finally, as an AMO student, we no longer have theory classes anymore so basically we will be going out for our clinical attachments for the next 3 final semesters. There i was with my so called A-Team group which i personally handpicked (read my previous Reflection post) and all of them are my personal close friends. Yah, i know i know....a bit cronyism going on there. My group: Me, Aaron, Calhiem and Zaid. This semester we will be going to 4 attachment areas and we have to do our clinical thingy there for 4 weeks in each area.
First month... Klinik Kesihatan Bako, Kuching. Bako is a suburban malay kampong situated approximately an hour drive from Kuching city. And it took us about two hour drive from our college to the clinic. Imagine that we have to wake up early and departed from the college around 5.45am every weekdays. We arrived at the clinic somewhere around 7.30am. And we returned to college around 4.00pm and arrived around 6.30pm. That was a hectic schedule i might say. Oh by the way, KK Bako also near the famous Bako National Park, the oldest national park in Malaysia and my favorite place.

Bako National Park signboard

The first day was kinda blur actually. I remembered  that we had this new driver who didnt know the road to KK Bako and luckily i have been there a few times so i have to be the navigator. We arrived there safe and sound but a bit late because we have to send a few of our colleagues to KK Santubong & KK Buntal (which is quite far). Unfortunately for us, there was only one AMO in the clinic, AMO Bujal and he was outstation doing works for the PLKN thingy for 2 weeks! Well, the HQ sent a relieving AMO from KK Telaga Air to replace him.
From my first impression, i'm not fond of the relieving AMO. Well, he was my superior so i have to respect him no matter what. There are 4 of us so i decided to divide ourselves into 2 sub-groups. Each team will rotate on daily basis working whether at the out-patient department (OPD) or the mother & child clinic (MCH).

Me!... camwhoring at the OPD

 I always looking forward to work in the MCH because i love playing with babies. Although sometimes it was kinda hard when you have to give immunization injections to babies. Nobody wants to see or hear babies crying right? Hehehe. In the MCH we have this mini pantry where we can hang out and eat everything served on the table. It was fun. The PPK also such a sweetheart. Sometimes she cooks for us and prepared drinks for us. All of the staffs there were awesome. I am very close to one of the nurse there. She was like a mother figure to me and every lunch hour, she took us to the nearby shops to buy our lunch. Ohhh she was so sweet.
I remembered this incident... It was Monday. I forgot the date. The relieving AMO didnt come to work for unknown reasons. That day Aaron and I was the one who were on duty at the OPD. There were alot of patients that day. Usually, we only had like 40 patients per day but that day we had like 70 patients in the OPD. The OPD only has 1 screening table and both of us decided to screen 2 persons at one time to avoid the restless crowd due to our slowness of clerking and treating the patients. Hey, we were just semester 4 at that time and our knowledge is like so limited. The worst part was we dont have any AMO supervising and helping us. It's just the 2 of us! Zaid and Calhiem also kinda busy in the MCH as well. But Aaron and I prevailed and we did the best we could.

Dynamic Duo: Aaron & I

During the lunch hour, a mother came to the clinic bringing his 4 year old daughter who was having an asthma attack. As usual we gave the kid the usual treatment which was giving the kid nebulized Salbutamol. However, the treatment was uneffective so I decided to call the KK Bako's own AMO Bujal for advices. He asked us to give the kid another neb but still the kid was still having problem with her breathing. In fact, we can hear the wheezing sound loud and clear. The nurses there also didnt know what to do as they were not trained to handle this kind of emergency situation.

Nebulizer for paediatrics

 As a leader of my group so i decided to take an immediate action. Students aren't allowed to refer a patient from clinic to the hospital. But i took extreme measure, i just referred the kid to the hospital with the permission from AMO Bujal via the phone line. After finishing with all the paperworks and forms, our driver reported that our ambulance couldnt be started. Oh no, not another bad news after another. Damn, i was kinda frustrated at that time. I decided to call the hospital and asked for an ambulance. The ambulance arrived 30 minutes later and the kid was in a serious condition. Her face was bluish but she was in a good hand now.
Now, that was an experience. It really gave me the idea on how hard it is to become a paramedic and how to lead people. I guess i stepped up well and my team-mates were very cooperative and supportive with my actions. The Chief AMO who came along with the ambulance also praised us for the immediate action. I was kinda happy to save a life that day. However I was kinda frustrated with the relieving AMO who didnt come to work that day. Imagine what would i do if the kid collapsed in the clinic? Thank God there was Mr Bujal helping us although via the phone line. I couldnt wait for him to return to work next week.
After two shitty weeks with the unnamed relieving AMO, Mr Bujal finally returned back to the clinic. I was kinda happy to see him for i had this sense of respect and bond with him since that emergency incident. He was such a nice guy and he taught me alot. He even asked me to do the indent and brought me and Aaron to the State Medical Store. It was a memorable experience.
Days gone by so fast and it was a blast having Mr Bujal around supervising us. I was getting along fine with all the staffs. I even took advantage of the clinic's washing machine and dryer and did my laundries there. It was raining season back then. Hahahaha. I've learnt alot there. My first official attachment was a success. I didnt took much photos during that time for i dont have a decent camera to use. Hehehe. My group was okay except sometimes i felt this awkwardness having to face this "particular" person which his name cant be mentioned.

I missed KK Bako... I wish i could done more there. But it was a blast....really.