The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Friday, May 20, 2016

I hate the sight of blood. Especially my own!

At our campground, the water comes directly from the lake to supply the individual campsites and the washroom buildings. Normally, we've got it all hooked up and running by now. But this year the water level is so low, and last week when it rained, it turned the shoreline to thick mud. So we had to wait for it to dry up again before we could get close enough to the water to put the intake in.

And, we were waiting for a rebuilt pump to be ready. Well, yesterday was the day.

So the local well service guy brought the pump back and I helped him install it.

I was getting a garden hose ready to help prime the pump, and I was backing up in our yard when I tripped over the fire ring. I tried to correct in order to stop the fall and my leg hit hard on the edge of the fire ring. I knew right away even without looking at it that I had done some damage to the front shin on my leg. It didn't tear my jeans, but the blood started staining through immediately.

I got the first aid kit and went and found Ruth. She cleaned it up and put some bandages on it, but it looked pretty nasty.

I went back to work. But I lifted up my pant leg to look occasionally, and it wouldn't stop bleeding.

Eventually, I got our summer employee Valine to look at it. She has her first aid certificate. Anyhow, she thought it might need stitches to close it properly.

So, I called the local medical clinic in town...only about 20 minutes from here. I explained the situation, and they put me on hold. She came back and said "we really suggest that you go to the emergency room at the Swift Current Hospital".

Huh? For a few stitches? I questioned her... "Seriously? You can't even look at it?".

She put me on hold and got back to me again saying that they were fully booked up this afternoon.

The Swift Current Hospital is about 45 minutes each way. And I didn't really feel that this was an emergency, and I hate when people go to the emergency room for little aches and pains. Seems to me it's a big waste of resources. But, Canada's great medical system says that if you show up at an emergency room (no matter what for) a doctor has to see you. So you get all kinds of people who go to the emergency room with a head cold or minor aches and pains and waste everybody's time.

But what was I supposed to do at that point?

My mistake was that I called the clinic first. I should have just headed over there and they pretty much would have had to look at it if I was standing right there.

So, I drove myself into Swift Current.

I felt like an idiot going to the emergency room with my little cut.

But fortunately it wasn't busy.

I was processed in about five minutes and they led me to the "internal" waiting room. A nurse soon came and looked at my leg and kind of hummed and hawed before saying that a medical student would be by to take some info, and then the doctor would look at it.

Waiting for the doctor.

So I'm in the internal waiting room for about 20 minutes and over that time a couple of other guys came in. One had stepped on a nail, and the other thought he had broken his hand. Opposite where we're sitting, there's a bulletin board...

Are you sure it's an emergency?

Well no, it's not what I would have considered to be an emergency! But I tried to do exactly what the sign says and was told to got to emergency!!!

Stuff like this drives me crazy.


Ouch.

A second year medical student came in and looked at it, and asked a bunch of questions for the paperwork. Then, the doctor came in, had a quick look, and said that it was a deep gouge and he would do more harm than good trying to stitch it. So then another nurse came in, cleaned it all up and put a nice dressing on the wound.

All fixed up.

Then I drove back to the park. A waste of about three hours.

It'll be sore for a few days, but I'll live.

While I had been gone, the water system had been put into service for the year, so now we can open the bathrooms and get them cleaned up. Just in time for opening day today! We have a few reservations, but May long weekend at this park has never been a really big event. Plus, the weather isn't supposed to be fantastic. Nice enough temperatures, but cloudy and with occasional showers.

Anyhow...lots of work to do so we better get at it!

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RV season is upon us...time to stock up on Happy Campers! 





44 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Yeah, I just forgot to write abut hat stage of the procedure. They wanted to know if I had had one in the last ten years, and hinestly...I can't remember that far back. So yes, they did the tetanus shot.

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  2. Nice to see you wasted only a few hours, but it's a good thing to have it looked at. I agree with Dee, what about that Tetanus shot!

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  3. Replies
    1. When I first looked at it, I also said I thought it needed stitches. Sure glad that he didn't need them but frustrating that he had to make that long drive to Swift Current to find that out.

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  4. You will have a cool scar! I get tetanus shots on years that end in a "0". Or is that birthdays that end in a "0"? Damn, I forget. Maybe I should get one.

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    Replies
    1. Yep, I am pretty sure it will be a good scar too! I think maybe my last one was at least 15 years ago, I can't remember either.

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  5. If I had been there I would have sent you in to the ER. I wonder if the clinic would have stitched it.

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    Replies
    1. I doubt that they would have but it would have been nice if the doctor could have taken a quick look at it in between patients, it would have taken less than a minute and then if they thought it needed stitches, then Kevin could have done the drive to Swift Current.

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  6. So what was the charge? We need that emergency room sign in Mexico. People use the social system emergency room to change a dirty diaper. Get well soon and yes, that looks a bit nasty. Sounds like you need some comfort food like Ruth's pizza!!!!

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    Replies
    1. No charge at all...this is Canada! And yes, people abuse the social system emergency room here too. The problem with the system is that it actually encourages you to run to the doctor for every little thing, and so many people do just that.

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    2. People who don't mind sitting in a waiting room for one hour minimum go to the ER. I have also noticed that if their complaint is frivolous, the waiting time gets much longer. This helps whittle down the abuse. The trick in Canada is to have your problem serious enough that you go in an ambulance. The ambulance has to hand you off to a doctor and they can't have ambulance crews sitting around a waiting room for hours. We have very limited experiences with Canadian ER's but every time we have needed one it has been serious enough that they have pretty much dropped everything and attended to us.

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    3. Kevin, I didn't know if you were part of the system or not. Got it!

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    4. Yes...in Saskatchewan we are allowed to be out of province up to 7 months and still maintain our Saskatchewan health care.

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    5. Croft you are correct that the minor problems end up waiting longer if there are more serious issues that come in after but it still adds to our taxes and puts a strain on the already stressed system.

      You may be right on getting taken quickly if you come in on an ambulance but if you do not live in the area you will end up being billed for the ambulance ride. This happened to Kevin when he had his concussion in Kingston, Ontario but our address was still Ottawa, Ontario.

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  7. At least you didn't break any bones :-)

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    Replies
    1. No, thankfully he didn't but he said he came close to it!

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  8. I throught about tetanus also, but maybe he gets them regularly. Unlike me. . .

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    Replies
    1. No, he does not get them regularly and he hadn't even thought about it but the hospital gave him one anyway.

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  9. Cuts near the bone often take a long time to heal. Don't try to rush it!

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    Replies
    1. He couldn't rush it even if he wanted too! He did say last night that it wasn't quite so sore.

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  10. Ouch is right! Keep it clean and get well soon!

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    1. Thanks Grace, I am sure he will be back to his normal self in no time.

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  11. Phil did a similar thing he was out in the rain cleaning the Eve's the ground was soggy and when he went to get the ladder down it fell on his arm. We went to the clinic and they were all booked up so we were off to the hospital. Why do they call them walk in clinics? I agree with you emergency rooms are for emergency only

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, not sure why they walk in clinics either. When we lived just outside of Ottawa, they actually had a small emergency clinic for issues like this, it was sort of a step between a walk in clinic and a regular hospital emergency room. Seem to make sense!

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  12. Replies
    1. No, it is not potable water. We have potable water available for them, should they wish to fill their holding tnk upon arrival. Most people simply hook up and use the site water for flushing toilets and showering.

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  13. Fire ban, but if only they had gone a step further and banned the fire rings as well! What is it about modern camping that still brings out the caveman in people who need that campfire? Here in the tinderbox US Southwest, the first thing I do when occupying a dispersed site is get rid of all the firerings (and the ubiquitous garbage therein). That way I avoid shin injuries

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No fire ban here at the moment, after those two days of heavy rainfall our ban was lifted. It seems that most people that go camping love having a fire and sometimes they have it going all day long even. We like having one too but we don't do it often.

      Our fire rings aren't made of stones either they are huge thick metal rings, and yes we have the same problem here at the campground where some people think it is a garbage pit.

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  14. is there an Amazon link for a PERSONAL back-up camera? For Kevin.

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    Replies
    1. There are sooo many different models available Dinah, and I have no idea what you're looking for.

      You could check here though... RV Backup Cameras at Amazon.com

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    2. She meant for YOU, not an RV (lol).

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    3. Ohhhh...lol. I get it now...Duh.

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  15. Ouch yes, that's a pretty quick trip to the ER, last time for me was over 9 hours. And Suzie's Dad a month ago. 5 hours...
    Hope all goes well and you heal fast.

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    1. I guess it pays to live in a low population density area!

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  16. Yikes! Nasty cut - if nothing else you are good for your tetanus shot for a while. Too many people clog up the mediclinics so you are forced to go to the hospital here as well.

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    Replies
    1. Its healing up well and yes, his tetanus is now up to date. Seems there are just too many sick people out there. We have noticed this in other countries too, there always seems to be lots of people waiting around the emergency door.

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  17. Doncha just hate tripping over stuff like that and then injuring yourself to boot? Jimmy fell off his bicycle in Park City UT the other day, not quite watching where he was going, but luckily he didn't do any damage!

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    Replies
    1. Nope, no fun tripping over things if you hurt yourself in the process. Glad Jimmy is ok, and didn't injure himself.

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  18. I really enjoyed reading about your adventures. My daughter is living in Seoul and planning a Temple Stay at Beomeosa Temple in Busan. Her friends have decided to not go with her. Do you think it would be comfortable for a young woman to experience the Temple by herself?

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    Replies
    1. So glad to hear you are enjoying our adventures. Your daughter would not have any problem at all going by herself to a temple stay. There are many women who do this by themselves and it is a really interesting experience and shouldn't be missed.

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