okay, so i like the term autumn equinox better than M.A.F. better than the chinese name. for various reasons. which shows what kinda person i am.

it just came, and left. and i was busy. and no one choked, insofar as i know. ate a total of one mooncake and some pomelo. touched zero lanterns, walked past some candles just now. i wished i had time for it.

i like tea.

last day of hospital attachment.

3/4pm there was this skinny old man with pneumothorax. was very alert and responsive and all, not bad. looked at his CXR, discernible air space. Chest tube was done. by this dunno who doctor with a very nice stethoscope. the stethoscope is the electronically enhanced one, so funky. most experienced guy arnd in A&E that day. it always feels very weird that they do such things with the patient awake, sigh. ok, nvm. was surprised at how fast the procedure is. wonder how funny it feels to have this tube coming out of your chest.
the guy was transfered to alexandra hospital, like many others today. ttsh must be really really short of beds.

5-6-7pm was a crazy time in resus coz so many people came in. at one point all four resus stations were occupied.
there was this old woman, ?stroke, BP initially was 200+/100+. intubation done to for breathing, totally unconscious, doc did the use pen scratch on the sole of the foot thing, i was like ahh.. helped push her to take CT Scan. wah gotta transfer all the oxygen, monitors, stuff. then push out past all the pple. first time seeing a CT scan being done and staying inside the control room! the scan is so fast. their computers are so nice too, such Big screens and lots of buttons.
CT scan came up with no bleeding i think. then they sent her up to ICU. i went too. neuro ICU. $1000 per day, cool. their ICU is sooo nice. gosh i've never been in there too. got indiv rooms for each patient. got so the whole bank of equipment in there. got nice colour monitors showing rhythms. look like this space station kinda place.
found out that they have a separate set of lifts for staff to use, and for transfering pple. very mafan, their doors like to have buttons at different places all the time, and then some need cards.

then there was this old man who got IV at the neck!! wah. finally saw one liddat!

what else... there was this nice motherly looking doc who was explaining alot to us, and a nice male nurse who was explaining a lot too. there was one grumpy idiot male who was being an idiot. surprising lot of china sounding nurses there. and doc with accents.

there was a guy coughing up blood.
there was a guy with BP 60+/30+.
there was a policman bitten by a insane woman at woodbridge. IM ATT.
there was a guy dripping blood from his finger onto the floor.
there was a woodbridge guy with chest pain and acting funny.
there was a pretty young attractive doctor.
there was a whole slew of CXRs in the resus.
there was a motorcyclist hit by a car but not very badly injured (relatively)
there was a person earlier in the day, multiple trauma, multiple fractures, cardiac arrest, DOA @ hospital.

ok that's all i remember for now.

i can't help but declare that 927 falls on 9-27-2004. so there.

yet again.
the start of the morning was rather boring. to some extent A&E functions like a business, with peak hours. and the nurses dislike remarks about peacefulness. we did so many ECGs today the nurses trusted us with it by ourselves. it started getting so packed around lunch time that we were running out of space to put pple and to manoeuver.

interesting case 1: young man, looked twenties, but had ring on that finger. walked into resus room, saw him sitting there upright peacefully. and there were jabbing this canula on a big syringe into his left upper chest. i was like, woah what's going on. so this guy had a spontaneous pneumothorax and they were going to just draw out the air with a 16G need and a 3-way valve and a syringe! with minimal local anaesthesia, really minimal. gosh. can u imagine sitting there watching them jab it into you and keep syringing out air, 19 x 25ml of it. so shocking. apparently he could go home later. not a big problem. hm.

interesting case 2: old man was making a helluva lot of noise complaining he can't pee and blah blah. so they did the catheterisation on him lor. expected. took a long time about it though, and he kept making alot of noise while having to wait. rather painful i imagine. watched while the jittery and inexperienced doc put the tube in shakily, actual process is rather fast though. but no urine came out, shrug. (later on when i walked by i saw some, but that was a long time later)

interesting case 3: walk-in woman. was crying and making noise to the doc. i forgot about what. something about squabbling fighting with some related person i think. with a fractured wrist or something. couple of minor trauma, minor RTA, but still not nice enough.

not a good enough day. but it's my record for number of pairs of gloves used. probably half a box or something. no wonder they have boxes of gloves Everywhere, like in every sub-room. and each box location has all S,M,L boxes.

so there. TTSH A&E is a nice home. quite like the working environment. it's good to have patients/cases that come, get processed, and get sent away. don't have to see the same one for like very long. but it got so busy that there wasn't really time to explain properly to the patient what you're doing. not very good in that sense. but peak hour too bad. get the doctors to see faster.

okay, the service pack 2 cd which i ordered from www.microsoft.com has arrived, and in only like a week or a few days. instead of the 4-6 weeks cited on the website. well, it's free. go ahead and get it. can use on pirated windows too.

did i mention that the foodcourt vendors were taking me for hospital staff and giving me discounts for food! so amusing.

to quote myself:

"have my luck, i don't need it anymore"

Toa Payoh Fire Post 21oohrs-0800hrs.

1st call: ard 22-2300hrs.
old man had fits, fell down and hit his head. 3-4cm semi-circular laceration on head. blood dripping. blood stains ard kitchen floor. he looked slightly in shock, or calm, dunno. coping quite well. rather passive though. apparently he just went hospital for stubbing his toe or sth. poor thing. (at least got blood, at least got something to bandage)

2nd call: hour or two later.
indian male, middle aged. fell previous day, hit head. now c/o head pain, abdo pain, and another dunnowhere pain. bump on the head. nauseous. was in a really tiny 1-room flat or something, with two other indian women, so stuffy. hm, see all these poor little houses. sigh.

3rd call: on way back from TTSH aft 2nd call. radio came in on the road.
Dunearn Road. Case of Head Pain!
went there saw two police cars outside the terrace house???. woman had an argument with husband, fighting, assault. being the weakling she got injured. filipino woman with a expatriate looking husband. she was rather concerned abt her husband getting into trouble with the police and being concerned for her children. .. interesting. nothing to do.

4th call: ard 0300hrs.
Toa Payoh. attempted suicide, ingested Dettol.
at least it sounds more interesting. tho we were still waiting for an RTA or fall-frm-height to happen. young woman. looked very pale, weak, too weak to talk i think. typed out answers on her hp. was carrying 2 hps with her. very passive too.

A&E is so quiet at night. not much walk-in cases i guess. they were doing cleaning up. even the Resus room looked like it was closed down, lights all off. realised that public trusts medical pple alot. it's like a different kind of attitude compared to if they were communicating with another professional. it's quite fun doing this job. and it's so fun to be walking in and out of A&E uninhibited. can go into all the rooms, peer at everything. too bad most pple can't come and see what happens. not that it's easy to understand sometimes. actually most of the cases so far not a lot of treatment is done. partly coz there isn't much impt treatment, and we're so close to hospital. din even give oxygen to the head injury patients.

ambulance and A&E is fun.

forgot to mention there were also nursing students on attachement at TTSH too! advanced diploma. for those who are very gian on eyeing young nurses.

realised that A&E practically all are Staff Nurse or Nursing Officer. hmm.

a tiring day that did not live up to expectations. a bored death.
bishan fire station. was stationed at toa payoh fire post with one of the two ambulances. long complicated story. small stark enclosure at a void deck.
1st call: toa payoh polyclinic. case of dengue fever. basically just sent the person to TTSH, taking parameters on the way. sian. saw joseph lam there. and norman. amusing enough, since before that he called me while i was still at firepost and asked whether im doing TTSH today. in the end still met him. and some others on attachment. so fun to meet pple around. is nice to have friends scattered.
2nd call: head bleeding. bishan central. went there, at first could not find the guy. was almost going to leave. young-middle aged man was sitting near coffee shop. two police pple with him. not very fresh looking wound on the head. one more on his left arm. person in a daze and brain slow. claims to have had a fall. previous injury marks present, self inflicted. police discovered blood stain razor blade case in bag. some blood stains in bag. apparently found 3 sleeping pills too or something, which patient was very afraid of getting into trouble for. pills were prescribed. jobless, retrenched recently. monetary problems. didn't want to go hospital coz wanted to look for job. looked frightened, worried, unstable.
3rd call: toa payoh polyclinic again, irritating. worker cut by falling glass. slash on right wrist. BP low. looked a little pale otherwise fine. another transportation case. sian.

heard they had a 'good' case at TTSH A&E today. cardiac tamponade. CPR done at resus. doc cut open chest. massaging heart with hands. so sad i didn't get to see that.

4th case: was supposed to be old lady not feeling well. halfway enroute, zey banged into another veh. a long drawn-out settlement on scene. waited very long for maintenance pple to assess veh. towed veh back to base, exchanged ambulance. amongst other things which resulted in afternoon onwards being ruined. so irritating.

had fair share of gawkers today. such standard behaviour. can't help it. actually, i'll prob look more, since i know what's going on. yar. medical pple will prob be more interested than other passerbys.

hope tomorrow night'll be better.

tips from Computer Times on how to quicken your computer without being a geek. like using regedit is not geek enough.
these are the ones i find most useful and effective, out of 50.

1. convert file system to NTFS instead of FAT32. multiple benefits including speed security space, if interested just search on the net.
C:/fs:ntfs

2. disable file indexing
function: updates names of files so u can search faster
Control Panel > Add/Remove Windows Components
uncheck indexing services

3. re-set priorities
function: allocate resources so the programs u want to take priority can run faster
right-click taskbar > Task manager > Processes
right-click on program u want to speed up or slow down

4. stop hibernation
function hibernation mode takes up alot of disk space.
Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate

5. Improve Memory Performance
function keep current data in memory rather than on hard disk for faster access
run "regedit", hkey local machine\system\currentcontrolset\control\session manager\memory management open paging executive, change to decimal of 1. not 0.1
open largesystemcache, do likewise

6. turn off windows automatic updating if u haven't done so
control panel > system

7. make Start Menu respond faster
function: get rid of that irritating delay that's actually not a system lag
run "regedit", hkey current user\control panel\desktop
open menushowdelay, modify value to zero

8. remove unwanted startup programs
run "msconfig" and edit the startup tab

9. remove invalid entries in Add/Remove programs
"regedit"
Hkey local machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall

10. delete old restore points that are extra and take up space, keep only latest one
Start\Programs\Accessories\System Tools\Disk Cleanup\More Options

11. unload fonts that u rarely use because all fonts are loaded at startup
Control Panel, open Fonts folder. shift the unused fonts files to another location, just put back if u want to use the font

12. Disable error reporting. who cares why windows crashes.
Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > sstem
choose Advanced, select Disable Error Reporting

13. make your mouse smoother (PS/2 mouse)
Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Mouse
choose Advanced, set sample rate to 200

attachment day. so fun. extremely enjoyable. i think i like A&E alot. as long as i'm not the patient. it's not like the staff isn't working hard or fast enough, it's more like the queue and time per patient is high, too bad always have to wait very long.

two collapse case simultaneously in the morning, cool. one hypoglycemia, who got CPR-ed, shock-ed, jabbed, pumped and then revived. the other chest pain didn't revive. Maddy got the doc to let me try a bit of CPR on the 2nd one, before they put on the automatic machine. interesting experience.

it's so nice to be in A&E. dedicated and messy room with calm quiet people treating things so normally, yet with the patient there like in silent distress. all the defrib and x-ray is done with so little fuss. and it's just so messy.
very fun, everytime there's a serious case we'll all go in and stare. and all the nurses are like going in and out, and it's like i dun even know who's the one helping.

i prob used about 20 pairs of gloves today. kept changing like nobody's business. so many people with chest pain. no frightening trauma case though.

hm found out that SCDF paramedics earn quite abit. trainees get ard $2000. those with nursing diploma get abit more. and when they become full-fledged paramedics, ard $3000. it takes like abt 2 yrs to train up until u're allowed to be the paramedic on the ambulance. and SCDF is short on manpower now. they work only half the month, 2 days work 2 days off. and workload varies.

NSF scdf medics are rather gd too. firefighter isn't gd.

haiz. got out of camp at like practically 9pm. idiotic day of practical test. not worth knowing. last day with the SCDF trainees, sigh. military phase is gonna be so stupid, useless and boring. .headache. hafta wake up early for tmr's hospital attachment. so someone kenna burnt in the vehicle today, hm.

after you spend one entire month listening to scenarios of pple getting burnt, stabbed, cut, broken, flattened, pple getting asthma, chest pain, AMI, angina, CCF, unconscious, allergy. after like five weeks of that, you start to have the feeling that these things happen all the time, and very frequently, and it's so common. and i forget that in most pple's lifetime, they might never ever see one of these thingys. too bad it's not alright to make a mistake on this job, not alright to take your time, not alright to be slow and lousy.

if only some people realise that one can't choose the time for these things to happen, one can't predict when these people will come. and in the face of all these nonsense, how to pause, how to rest, how to go even just go for lunch. it's not good to mix occupation with emotions. which aggravates my scorn of the army way of working.

Slackers

You know you haven't posted in a while when you still have that clunky ad block at the top of your blog. You know—the ones with that blue, bow-tie looking shape that says blog*spot is the quick spot for your blog. (Hint: they'll go away if you republish.)
– Biz [9/20/2004 02:14:10 PM]

Vois sur ton chemin
Gamins oubliés égarés
Donne leur la main
Pour les mener
Vers d'autres lendemains

Sens au coeur de la nuit
L'onde d'espoir
Ardeur de la vie
Sentier de gloire

Bonheurs enfantins
Trop vite oubliés effacés
Une lumière dorée brille sans fin
Tout au bout du chemin

Sens au coeur de la nuit
L'onde d'espoir
Ardeur de la vie
Sentier de la gloire

ooh, forgot to mention my current fave film: Les Choristes.
went cineleisure to watch last sunday. didn't expect it to be so popular in singapore. ze film which broke all box office records in France. surprised. had to sit in front row. :/

wonderful story of this bunch of kids in a school for difficult kids. so exotic and cute. loved all the characters, mathieu, rachin, peppinot. the kids are so adorable. the story is totally unpredictable and cool. the kids are just great. i love the song too. there was only one song most of the time, and that was enough.
and they used Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra leh...

okay, i can't help saying this again: stop watching boring hollywood movies and check out more interesting films and cultures.
Western does not equal U.S.A.
European does not equal U.S.A.
There is more to life than guns and ghosts and romance. =p 

the ultra yantao clement mathieu and the ultra cute peppinot sitting on the table there. funky ya 

it's been a year of blogging. seeing my archive links stack up one by one. hm. what a lot of junk words and makeovers. one year with lots of improvment to the service by blogger/google.

finally got down to reading something. saw someone reading this thingy, couldn't resist. didn't recognise the author of virgin suicides, whocares. 2003 Putlizer Prize for fiction.
about this person who's born apparently female, but filled with male hormones inside.

how's the book?, long. first 1/2 or 3/4 is filled with the history and tales of the grandparents' lives, the parents' lives. whatever the heck for. maybe the author finds this gene lineage thing very fascinating. so many people just can't grow up with all this obsession over the magic of genes and DNA. so it's powerful, and incredible how much our genes determine and how they 'function', but it is like a poem which contains so few words:
1)it says more than it writes;
2)there are complex interwoven patterns;
3)there are seeming regularities which are not regularities and vice versa;
4)there are more and more meanings and themes and undertones than the one u're currently discovering;
5)you never know if you've interpreted it fully. people out there are like marvelling that it rhymes! dah!

at least the book's away from the seeming overflow of stories about love in India, poverty in India, twisted souls in India, China, and other exotic countries, about twisted love stories, about old egyptian hieroglyphs and curses. but still, serious fiction is better than common fiction(mystery, detective, thriller, romance), at least there's a greater range of stories.

i have this feeling this blog layout is nearing its death soon. shall resist the temptation.

hm.. after 5 weeks of course, the mood's starting to improve. nice to see most pple being rather hardworking and studious. a surprise really, to see so many studying in an army camp. didn't expect pple to be so devoted. but then, the test is coming, and for those without any bio background, it takes some effort to keep up with the terms. feels abit more like a study hostel. well. helps that Anwar, ze course commander, is a person who knows what to focus on. really nice character. just talks too much. but very nice to us, gave us time and place to study. ignores all the silly army shit and is more concerned towards the glory and importance of the medical profession(that's his mindset and attitude). it's better when everyone is just relaxed and not stressed by other things and being motivated to study for the test. (im not really trying That hard, since after all the results dun matter as long as i pass, i'm not a regular. and my bio background makes it practically nothing to keep up with the pace. after all, i used to learn more in less time and more thoroughly. but it takes some time to accelerate the brain though. and my memory ain't perfect.)

the SCDF trainees are a great bunch of pple. very fun. and lots of stories to tell. abit sad that they have to come here for their course, since army lessons sux. it's a relief that we've got one of their instructors here, staff maddy. yar maddy. hyperactive wenjing-like woman/girl. if it was left to only the army instructors, it'll be disaster. it wouldn't be so fun, and nothing to learn. i shudder to think about that situation.

attachment week next week. attachment schedule, for the benefit of astarael and whoever wants to visit me.

Wed TTSH 0800-1400
Thurs Bishan Fire Station 0800-2100
Fri Bishan Fire Station 2100-0800
Mon TTSH 0800-1400
Tue TTSH 1400-2100

ah, so SPH and mediacorp did some eeky eeky deal thing. no more STREATS. (finally) interesting percentage deal on TODAY. combining television and free newspaper. so after a few years of throwing tens of millions of dollars for the sake of throwing money, they finally gave up on the pathetic singapore media industry. so now we're gonna have less newspapers, less TV channels, more SCV viewers. even though this news has practically no effect on me since i do not depend on the mid-level entertainment industry for stimulation to my life. about time they realised that money's not everything, that their schemes and programmes and ideas are all just glitter and fads with no meaning no following no truth no purpose. all their endless rating competitions and user bases. all their talk shows host shows reality shows. good riddance to them. by the way can we also pay less in TV licence fees now?

poor jx is sick, sniff sniff...

shall try to maintain some blogging activity. today's MAF celebrations at HwaChong. the annual, after the exam temporary stress reliever.
MAF always has the special place in HC. it's about the only thing that is represent of the school culture. hopefully it does not get tainted by the school transformation, but i doubt it will be as nice after this year. didn't feel like this year's overall turnout was that good. appeared empty. but as always, crowds magically appeared when it's singing and dancing time. was rather surprised at how simple, short and standard the show routine was. maybe because i usu don't pay much attn to it and dunno what's going on there.

met band pple, 73 pple, RI GEP pple, BMT pple, misc pple. am glad that many pple decided to come back. if just for a look at each other. if nothing else. in a familiar and nice environment. a relaxed social gathering where no one is obliged to do anything, to dress up, to act properly. to be just kids again, to be students again.
am rather surprised at my BMT section though, 7 out of 11 of us were there, 2 more were somewhere around, but busy. and half of them weren't from HC. haven't seen some of them for 1.75 years. all nice pple. all really good buddies who can go through anything together. the utterly crazy things we did back then. the never-again memories. there's no other place where pple can be so mad and uninhibited. so many funny memories. of all the 4 sections in the platoon then, ours was the craziest and closest. mad men.

Firefox - Rediscover the web

okay, so Modzilla's Firefox is up to a new release. 4.5mb download. for people still on IE, get a move.

okay. sorting out the ad bar thingy. something went wrong. *twisted frown*

okay the big ugly bar to the right is the Google Adsense bar. okay, I put it there, coz i'm trying out the thingy to see how much i can get. So please click on the links whenever you drop by this blog okay? whoever is reading. it's best if you click on ALL the links. many many times on many many days. yup.