Aao kabhi meri haveli pe
HOPE CLINICS
What if ?
Imagine an overcrowded airport (with 50,000 people) in a city under siege by rebels and everyone trying to board a flight and get out of the country somehow. Imagine now that the airport itself is under attack with bombs, bullets and rockets. Now add to this that all 100 aircraft on the ground were damaged because of this attack with some missing one engine, others with no tail fin to provide direction and yet others with fuel tanks which are leaking aviation fluid. Let us now also assume some pilots have not reported for duty and one pilot would have to tow ten or more planes while flying. No I am not writing a plot for a south Indian movie, this is my world and I welcome you to it all you ivory tower, air conditioned conference room sitting, pompous pontificating experts who advocate that medicine should emulate the aircraft industry and reduce errors.
Would these experts keep the statistics of error in airline industry similar to what they claim to have achieved with their checklists and documentation if the scene at every airport in the world was the same. This is what an emergency ward of any major hospital looks like in India. The so called errors pointed out by the experts to my mind are also due to the unnecessary distraction of checklists and documentation demanded by society courts and our lawmakers. Even Rajnikant would lose focus while flying a damaged plane while understaffed and with google advice, instructions , threats and punches thrown in with equal measure by passengers surrounding him in the cockpit. Expecting him to document minute by minute the events and fill the checklists so that he can later prove his innocence in court is a tall order indeed. And what if some aircrafts could be allergic to the same aviation fuel being used by others.
It is not that there is a dearth of doctors in India which leads to the shortage of staff. It is the lack of willingness on part of society and Government, to hire doctors. When you post one doctor in a remote area to care for everyone in surrounding villages you are making sure that he /she will disappoint the public. To provide even the basic healthcare you require doctors round the clock and a replacement for leaves and holidays which means at least 4 doctors and corresponding staff in one post. The argument that we have only one officer appointed at one post , one DC, session judge, Tehsildar , or SSP, is infructuous because we doctors cannot tell the public which approaches us to approach only between 11AM-1PM on working days. People approach us during their time of distress which may be at midnight and early morning even on holidays. The completion of checklist by the Government by providing one doctor at one Primary Heath Centre is equivalent to simply befooling the public knowing fully well that no one can work 24x7, 365 days a week. You cannot expect a pilot flying a damaged plane 36 hours non stop overloaded with passengers standing in the aisle with fuel given for only half the journey and then blame the pilot for the crash.
If you cannot do anything else at the very least stop preaching and demanding accountability from a profession that is stretched to a breaking point.