Thanks to the Swine Flu scare, my mom was asked to get herself tested for the dreaded H1N1 virus.Now, the problem was none of the private hospitals in Mumbai are conducting the screening for the flu.
We were actually contemplating waiting till the time private hospitals were allowed to carry out the test. But then realized that waiting was completely not an option.
So, me and mom decided to go to Cooper Hospital as it is quite close to where we live. Well, we were expecting to see a scene of complete chaos and misery at the hospital. We braced ourselves for all the challenges one would expect to encounter at any government agency.
With a lot of apprehension we reached the hospital. But, we were in for a pleasant surprise.We were directed by a very helpful security peron to the TB Ward which was turned into H1N1 screening center. There was long queue for registration and it took us nearly 2 hours to get through the registration process. Cant blame the hospital as people had turned out in huge numbers to get themselves examined. However, they could have added more counters for registration to handle the crowds.
Next step was to get examined by a doctor. To manage the long queue, the hospital had deployed adminstrative staff who were polite and helpful. The doctors carrying out the clinical examination were extremely patient and helpful. The ones who were suspected of having contracted the H1N1 virus were sent for further screening where the throat swabs of the patients was being collected.
The area around the TB ward was kept clean and people were being asked to wear masks for protection. No shouting, arguments, asking people to go from one person to another, etc., etc. All in all the experience was satisfactory and I can actually think of no negatives here.
As I write this my mom whos sitting next me wants me to add the following -’Thanks to all the doctors and staff who have been very kind. It was really heartning to see that all the doctors were working non-stop without taking any breaks or wasting time. Some doctors themselves were unwell in spite of which they remained committed to their duties.’
P.S. - I happened to call the 108 helpline started by the government to answer all Swine Flu related queries. Must say, they are doing a good job. I called them twice and both the times the person at the other end was extremely helpful. I also tried to test his patience by asking silly questions and talking about my non-existent symptoms for a good 10-15 mins. The person patiently heard me out and very politely asked me to not worry too much and take rest :-)