Coming of Age

Mary Had a Little Lamb…; Old Macdonald Had a Farm…; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star… were some of the nursery rhymes that filled the air in the nursing home room. The moment the volume is lowered to welcome a visitor, the baby would cry to express his displeasure.  Yes, this was the scene we recollect when we flew all the way to the US to welcome the arrival of our first grandchild, Ashwin. That was nearly eighteen years ago.

Now he is a tall, rustic 6’2”, late-latif, having his breakfast in a blink so as not to miss his first practical Ambulance duty for the day from 8 am to 6 pm. It’s part of the Emergency Medical Technician short-term course that he has chosen to strengthen his bio data for his long-term goal of getting into medicine.

With his newly acquired stethoscope resting around his neck and driving his Dad’s car for ‘duty’, he did look a doctor-in the making – or is it just any grandpa’s wish?  We grandparents stood at the doorstep all eager, and his parents a little behind trying to look normal, as Ashwin drove past his vehicle faster than what his parents would have wished him.

We played as usual the card games post lunch, but without the usual vigour and enthusiasm. Our minds were preoccupied on guessing what kind of emergencies would be in store for him. We waited for his return in the evening to get a first-hand account.

His class was in session. There were no signs of emergency for nearly an hour. Suddenly he was asked to report for duty. The ambulance rushed to a pharmacy where a man in his early twenties lay in the pharmacy bathroom nearly unconscious, high on opioid. Ashwin did his part of the job to bring him back to consciousness, only to be scolded by the affected. “Oh, you have brought me down from the high that I was enjoying.”

They were then directed to a Department Store to attend to an accident case. It seems while reversing her car back from shopping, a lady hit a man walking from behind. The accident per se was not serious, but the man went into a near trauma. He was cooled down in a while.

The next was allergic reaction. God knows what medicine the lady had taken. Her body was getting red with patches of swelling. They gave her an antidote, waited for a while, and when they saw signs of decline in the allergic reaction, they left for their next assignment.

There wasn’t any. And they returned to their base hospital, only to be directed to attend to a heart-attack case. This was a man past his middle age. Ashwin feared the patient’s chances were 50:50. He played absolutely safe doing exactly like what was prescribed in the textbook – and heaved a sigh of relief when the patient responded.

“That’s the end,” he said to himself, as it was already 4.30 pm, and he has just an hour and a half to go. But that was not to be. They got another call – this time a case of alcohol poisoning. “Oh! Poisoning?” his worst fears came true. He didn’t want to be part of anything that could be fatal, that too on day one of his tryst with Medicine. He wished if only it had happened after 6 pm, after his duty, that is. But, starting from a week before, Aunty had begun to recite some special slokas (something like Dur Swapne Smara Govindam…etc) for a happy ending of her grandson’s first day of practical session. And her prayers didn’t go unanswered. Here too the patient responded to the treatment.

Next morning, he exchanged notes with his classmate who too was on a different Ambulance duty. His cases included Drunken truck accident; Heart attack; Gun shot; Stabbing; and Difficulty in breathing. Ashwin felt cheated that he did not get such exciting assignments. But his friend confided all were fake scenes. “An ounce of practical experience is worth a pound of theory,” Ashwin patted himself as they both headed to the classroom.