Saturday, October 20, 2012

Commitment to Quality

You might be knowing that in any hospital, the waste is segregated at the collection point. i.e. there are different coloured garbage bags in which different types of wastes are to be put in. For eg, in JIPMER, I've seen three different coloured bags which are kept in all wards, operating rooms, procedure rooms etc. for different kinds of wastes. So if I have to discard an used needle, I'll have to destroy it and throw it in a BLUE bag only. So for the whole system to work efficiently and for the purpose to be fulfilled requires a lot of commitment and motivation from each and every person inside the hospital including the patients.


Now, I was posted in Medicine dept. for two weeks and so I was in one of the the medicine wards. There in a corner was kept an YELLOW coloured garbage bag. Just above it, on the wall, was written " Keep BLUE BAGS only ". That particular corner was near the injection trolley and hence more waste sharps will be generated there. So it would be easy for people to throw them into the BLUE bag if it was kept there. But an YELLOW bag was kept there by mistake and people were throwing wastes which had to be thrown into BLUE bags!
I called the nursing sister in-charge of that ward and showed this to her. To my utter surprise, she just laughed at it and went away. She thought I was making fun of it and she enjoyed the joke!

A week later, I'm in Christian Medical College, Vellore for a workshop on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and HPLC. During my visit there, I saw that in CMC there were five different coloured bags kept at waste collection sites. (in JIPMER we have three). And there were also many posters at different places displaying information on which type of waste had to be disposed in each of the coloured garbage bags.

We were receiving hands-on training with the HPLC operations in their labs. Once I was using the pipettes and doing some drug extraction. After pipetting, I removed my gloves and I was searching for a RED bag to throw it into. (as per their protocol, PPE* had to be thrown into RED bags). But somehow I didn't find any red bag nearby. Considering the fact that my gloves didn't come into contact with any infective material while pipetting, I threw the gloves into the GREEN bag nearby. The senior lab in-charge came and she asked me where I'd disposed my gloves. She probably asked this cause she expected that I would't have noticed the RED bag under the cover of an instrument. So when she asked me, I pointed to the GREEN bag. Without any hesitation, she wore a glove, put her hand into the garbage bag, removed the gloves I'd thrown into and put them into the RED bag. I was appalled by what she did. She was the senior-most yet she didn't order anyone else to do it. And she didn't ignore it as well.

I'm not saying CMC is better than JIPMER. NO. That is not what this post has  to convey. But what is the level of commitment we have? Are we motivated to contribute to the success of the system in a positive way? Doesn't that make a difference?

I'll leave you here....with a synapticspark !
_______________________________
*PPE - Personal Protective Equipment

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Dog Induced Synapticsparks!

We have two little puppies at our house. Both around a month old.
I was playing with them. I took out some biscuits and offered them.
They didn't eat. They didn't even bother to sniff the biscuits. They moved away.
I threw the biscuits nearer to them but it only frightened them as if I were throwing stones.
I realized they've never seen biscuits in their lives !


Now I sat back and did some thinking (synapticsparks)...
Don't we tend to do this when new & challenging opportunities seek us? Don't we, at times, turn back and flee with fright? 

I hope I've transmitted the synapticspark to you. I leave the rest of thinking to you :)

If you've got another synapticspark or feel this is a good one, do let me know through your comments or message. Thank you :)

Sunday, October 7, 2012

An Unexpected Win !!

The TIMES PHOTO JOURNAL (https://www.facebook.com/times.photojournal) conducts photography contests often. Last week, the topic was "Everyday life". I'd also joined and submitted three pics as per the contest rules. The online competition is a huge one. The page has around 66,000 subscribers. Around 550 budding photographers participated! 1340 photographs were submitted. 15 photographs would  judged as finalists by eminent judges.

Now...I was posted in the Emergency Medical Department during the time while this contest was announced. So I'd submitted pics which I'd clicked earlier. Though I had some better ideas, I did not have the time to go out and shoot them :( These were the photos, I'd submitted.

 

By God's grace, somehow, my photograph (the first one on the left) was selected among the top 15 (out of 1340). I'm so happy. Here's the certificate they mailed me :)


I'm totally out of words. I just don't know what to write more :). 
Thank you every one for the support & encouragement. 

 Photography because it's a perfect blend of 
Mathematics + Optical Physics + Creativity !
-Abialbon Paul

Friday, October 5, 2012

With A Little Wit & Wisdom !


Here are some of my (original) Facebook status updates. I hope you'll find them having a little wit & a little wisdom ;)) :-p

__________^_^__________

True Love is like a tumor that arises in your heart and permeates 
your soul until you lose yourself selflessly for the other.

__________^_^__________

I'm stuck here in a hard shell...pressure from all sides, life getting harder and harder......
But deep down here, I'm metamorphosing....silently and patiently...slowly and steadily...
When I fly out I'll be something beautiful :)
I'm in OG Postings :(

__________^_^__________

I'm not single. I'm HALF :-)
I'll be whole when I'm married :-)

__________^_^__________

Whatever I've learnt in medical school are in grey areas (of my brain:) 
#Literally. #Medico language

__________^_^__________

to forgive: (v) a selective self induced amnesia of the offending event.

__________^_^__________

Tsunami, tsunami go away,
Come never again on this bay,
Little Abi wants to play,
Tsunami, tsunami go away.... :-(
(when there's was a tsunami alert in Pondicherry. I'd put this update and Tsunami didn't dare to come)

__________^_^__________

Heights of frustration ;-P
You spend all ur 5 SMS explaining some vague medical concept to some boy.
After you've sent the 5th msg, a girl messages you "Hi" :))
(When the 5 SMS/day rule was announced)

__________^_^__________

Some one just told me, "Some of your photos look very good. That's because you've got a good camera"
I told him, "Yeah! And give me Sachin Tendulkar's bat and I'll score 100 centuries."
#problem??
__________^_^__________

I know life is not easy. I've not asked GOD for an easy life. 
But I've asked for someone to share it with :))

__________^_^__________

Whenever i'm posted in any department in INTERNSHIP, I do 3 things:-
1. Feel that the previous department was far better
2. Count the days for the current posting to end
3. Look forward for an easy life in the next posting :-P:-P

__________^_^__________

These are just a few....I hope you like them. Thanks for the support for my blog. Thanks for the inspiration. Feel feel to comment or share. Thank you :)