>to previous comments.
hmm NS medic training... it's appalling, not unexpectedly. what to expect. it's not totally the fault of the trainers. the system goes where the 'main' teachers are the regulars in the army, the ones who take the level 2 and 3 paramedic courses.
in the first place, army regulars cannot-make-it. the running of the course and teaching are mostly left to the WOSE line of regulars, that is the warrant officers and specialists, not the commissioned officers. the officers in the medical side, are all doctors, and what do they do, projects, management, command. so we're left with these idiots, who only took some more advanced course. and the current batch of medium to old-age WOSE regulars are mainly idiots. serious. and it's likely to stay that way, to a certain extent. the army channels the good ones into the command and management side, leaving day to day running, administration and execution to these incompetent loafers.
i would much rather the doctors teach us. there are so many doctors in the army, why cant they teach us. they've studied and practised so much over their years, even if they impart a small fraction of that to us, it'll be better than these pple who only underwent courses that last a few months and have no practical experience.
and so they try to teach. if they can understand what they're teaching. if they can get the facts right.
actually we're not required or expected to be able to do anything much. we're not allowed to do much without the doctor anyway. i once remarked before that the medical centre is just a place full of assistants to the doctor. when he's not ard, we usually just send patients over to somewhere else. we have no authority or power to do stuff. (which is gd for slacking away).
and we get really little medical experience. how often do things go wrong. and most daily routines involve non-treatment or emergency stuff.
and then the training has quite a lot of focus on combat situation. that one, is almost brainless, involving literally stabilising of patient, and immediate evacuation. that's nothing much to be done, or can be done.
it's just an army.
to top it off, selection for medics do not involve interviews or psychological tests or career preference. most of the pple are reluctant and non-commitant. it varies: attitude problem; selfishness; apathy; lack of responsibility. there are always pple who try to avoid doing any work. there are pple who just anyhow do. i can say that no work is ever done properly in the army, there is no pride or value associated with the completion of work properly. it is an entire perception problem that's entwined with the National Service system.
however, after some time, you can always find out who are the ones you can trust your life with. it takes time to observe who doesn't give a damn about army, but will perk up when there's a real patient, when there's important crucial stuff to be done.
but there are those who, i dunno, just don't respond. who just can't seem to differentiate between army and real life. and i would really like to say that the following words are not written out of pure biasness, discrimination or prejudice. the JC pple are hardworking, and i dun mean top 5 JCs, the rest too are not bad. they'll do their work, without excessive complaining and whining. and they'll make reasonable effort to do it properly. the Poly ones, tend to be slacker, a lot slacker. visibly different. attitude wise too. it's a really stark contrast. and the nxt obvious group, the malays. really. they just avoid work like plague. they hang ard, unshamefully, without remorse. they just don't care about anyone else.
i hate the way they try to laugh and joke their way out of things, making excuses, gliding it over with a sweet tongue, with a happy-go-lucky attitude. i hate it because the rest of the pple are doing their work, at least doing it passably, and not making excuses, and admitting mistakes, and not trying to fool pple.
but it is not always their personal fault. it's just the way our society and cultures are built. but for a few, it's really a personal fault, a despicable character flaw. or it's just the way their brains were wired.
[digressing alot]
class. strata.
perplexed sigh.
when wondering why the army system is so screwed up, think of the screwed up pple, and realise that it needs to be
when wondering why the govt is so irritating, think of the screwed up pple, and realise it needs to be.
i went through the same CPR course as them, all of us have never done it before, could technical ability ever be the reason why i was helping and they were not? it's not that hard to memorize CPR.
it's so scary, to know pple who care more about handphones and magic cards than someone's life. to know people, who dare not.
it might just be the army.
