Fluent Virginian

Our patient was in the clinical ED exam room, awaiting transport with his father and uncle.  They were from the West Coast, in town for a march or protest or something like that, when appendicitis struck.  Time to go to Nearby Hospital for surgery. DTs entered the room as he usually does, to speak with [...]

Backfire

I don’t travel much, so I don’t know a lot about other parts of the country. I would guess though, that Northern Virginia probably has a population with a diversity of languages greater almost than anyplace but New York. I try therefore to be able to speak at least a few words in a language [...]

Yah gee-ay chah-joo ohmneeka?

Think I’ll say something here about languages, since that is what I’m primarily working on at the moment. Well, languages and numbers. The reason upwardly-mobile parents push their kids into becoming dentists and doctors is that everyone has teeth, at some point, and everyone has medical problems of some sort, and if everyone is coming [...]

Hat Trick

Monday, July 11 2005 The fun thing about working in patient transport is that you are in this big ol’ damn ambulance when you’re driving around. When Tragedy Strikes, vehicle-wise, you are in a fine position to do something about it, should you so choose. Actually, being a bambulance, you kinda-sorta-gotta. Case in point. At [...]

Clever Ploy or Biting Criticism?

Saturday, June 18 2005 “Que pasa?” asks DTs as he identifies the patient in the group. “What’s going on?” The patient glances around for support. “No hablo Ingles,” says the patient to DTs. “Que molestias tiene?” asked DTs. “What’s bothering you?” “No hablo Ingles,” came the reply. Various nods in the silent group. It is [...]