Day 2
Something that has been on my mind recently is technology in the medical field. This may seem a little personal, but I have permission to share - my fiance Josh has been in and out of Memorial Hospital of Carbondale quite a few times during 2018. It has amazed me that with how advanced both technology and the medical field are, that we still struggle when it comes to diagnosing and treating medical issues.
Back during the spring months, my fiance had a CT scan, ultrasound, and biopsy - all of which were inconclusive. It was infuriating to think that an establishment such as a hospital could be filled with amazing technology that has helped so many others in the past, couldn't tell us what was wrong. We like to claim in the Western world that our medical technology is so advanced, and yet in my fiance's case, these multiple technologies couldn't figure out what was going on. Thinking about it now makes me reflect on a couple questions - does Memorial Carbondale of Hospital have access to newer medical technology, or are they left in the past due to budgetary constraints? Do the doctors have enough training to use these technologies to the best of their ability? Are there just some phenomena in the human body that cannot be explained by scans or biopsies?
What prompted my thought today was two recent trips to the doctor. On Sunday, my fiance and I were at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, and they took his blood pressure as per usual routine of checking vitals. The automatic blood pressure cuff took up to a minute to fully finish measuring his blood pressure and displaying the numbers on the screen. I wondered if it had just been easier for the nurse to manually take his blood pressure, as it would have been much quicker. Today, in a small doctors office, his blood pressure was taken again as usual routine. This time, the automatic cuff had his reading within 15 seconds. It was amazing how this small clinic had this technology that was faster than what a hospital had. I'm not exactly sure why - it could have to do with funding, or something else entirely. What I was sure of, was that my faith in medical technology had been slightly restored. This technology has made blood pressure reading more accurate than manual readings by eliminating human error, which is helpful for overall patient care. I can only hope that smaller hospitals will get more access to these advanced technologies in order to better assist their patients in the future.
Back during the spring months, my fiance had a CT scan, ultrasound, and biopsy - all of which were inconclusive. It was infuriating to think that an establishment such as a hospital could be filled with amazing technology that has helped so many others in the past, couldn't tell us what was wrong. We like to claim in the Western world that our medical technology is so advanced, and yet in my fiance's case, these multiple technologies couldn't figure out what was going on. Thinking about it now makes me reflect on a couple questions - does Memorial Carbondale of Hospital have access to newer medical technology, or are they left in the past due to budgetary constraints? Do the doctors have enough training to use these technologies to the best of their ability? Are there just some phenomena in the human body that cannot be explained by scans or biopsies?
What prompted my thought today was two recent trips to the doctor. On Sunday, my fiance and I were at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, and they took his blood pressure as per usual routine of checking vitals. The automatic blood pressure cuff took up to a minute to fully finish measuring his blood pressure and displaying the numbers on the screen. I wondered if it had just been easier for the nurse to manually take his blood pressure, as it would have been much quicker. Today, in a small doctors office, his blood pressure was taken again as usual routine. This time, the automatic cuff had his reading within 15 seconds. It was amazing how this small clinic had this technology that was faster than what a hospital had. I'm not exactly sure why - it could have to do with funding, or something else entirely. What I was sure of, was that my faith in medical technology had been slightly restored. This technology has made blood pressure reading more accurate than manual readings by eliminating human error, which is helpful for overall patient care. I can only hope that smaller hospitals will get more access to these advanced technologies in order to better assist their patients in the future.
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