A Wonderful Time At Hospital Bahagia

En Fikri Saad, the course coordinotor demonstrating CPR technique..

By mentioning being at Hospital Bahagia on the 8 and 9 August 2009, may make people think I'm crazy to be there. It is a mental institution for the mentally sick people. Situated in Ulu Kinta, it was formally known as Hospital Tg Rambutan, now it is Hospital Ulu Kinta. Well, whatever it is I was more than excited to be there, only to attend a two-day Basic Life Support Course for the Perak Red Crescent members, mostly trainers. It was a weekend to remember as I had learnt a lot and had the opportunity to make many new friends especially the staff of the hospital itself. I enjoyed touring round the whole area and walking through the wards.The most wonderful surprise was my birthday celebration planned by the lovely facilitators. Something that really touched me most.

It was no joke, having to concentrate on the lectures, demonstrations and going through pretest, post test and practice and practical tests. My reason for attending this course is clear. I need to be able to save lives as a Red Crescent member or I'll be ashamed if I can't. I believe whatever knowledge we already have is not enough as we have so much more to learn. Of course, we have to learn from the experts as they have a lot of experiences to share and life saving techniques are changing from time to time. I am thankful to be one of the course participants and when I see other elder ones around, it makes me wonder whether I'll still be as active as them when I get older. I trully hope to carry on being actively involved in Red Crescent activities or any other interesting ones as long as I wish.

Among the facilitators were Mr Jemes Anthony, the supervisor, En Fikry Saad, En Khalilullah, En Hisyam, Pn Azlin Shamsiah Md Ridzuan, Mr Samy Muniandy and others. Thanks to all of them who have done a good job delivering a successful course. Thanks to Mr Ng Ngoon Loy who allowed me to attend this course. Everything turned out well and I could be there from the beginning. Luckily, the English motivation talk for the Krian Chinese Primary School pupils was cancelled due to H1N1 or I would be there only before noon.

The first day started with a pre test. The lectures were about the anatomy and physiology of the heart and lung, cardio vascular diseases and stroke. All these made me realise how our loved ones are affected by these diseases and it is sad that one by one they slowly leave us. If only all of us can prevent ourselves from heart diseases and others we will live a longer,healthier and happier life.

During lunch break, Mr Samy Muniandy, a staff of HBUK showed Jayanthi, another friend and me around in his car. I was impressed to see the many orchards, farms, ponds and buildings. I learnt about the forensic block, workshops and the inmates. After the tour,we returned to the air -conditioned hall to continue our course.

Learning about FBAO ( Foreign Body Airway Obstruction) was interesting because we will be able to save those who are being choked including infants. We must be good at airway management. Then after the CPR talk, it was the demonstration and individual practice under the watchful eyes of the facilitators. Yeah, I agree, we need to a lot of practice in performing CPR either to adults or infants. The problem is after returning from the course, we don't get much chance to practice. Sometimes, we ourselves start to panic when we face real life situations.

I was staying at the Red Crescent HQ in Ipoh and travelled to Ulu Kinta with the guys who were staying there too. I don't feel lonely or frightened at all being the only lady in a big room. I've been there a few times these two years. It gives me a chance to go through the notes. Also, I do enjoy either the Malay or Chinese food at the foodstalls near the stadium. I could never imagine at this age only am I given the chance to be at the Red Crescent HQ. I could have done more when I was younger. Well, anyway, I do appreciate every moment as I am there to learn and serve the people.

The last day was quite relaxing except for having to go through the CPR practical tests and written post test. I enjoyed visiting the wards and meeting the mental patients. Some of the mentally retarded inmates had been there since they were born as they are the children of mentally-ill patients themselves. It is very sad to see them but they seem to have no worries at all, some laughing away. The staff told me even teachers, officers, accountants etc are in the wards. That is what is happening to people nowadays, the result of a stressful life and lots of heartaches and we end up in a mental institution.

The last afternoon, we did some review and a post test. As I have mentioned, I will never forget the moment the lights went off and the surprise entrance of the birthday cake with lit candles . En Faizal,from SMK Kuala Kurau whose birthday falls in August too shared the joy of cutting the cake together. Well, it was the thoughts that matters and I do appreciate it. I would like to thank the facilitators for the birthday gifts too. After the certificate presentation and closing ceremony, we all left for Wisma BSMM as fast as posssible.

All of us had to sit for our the Red Crescent CPR Written Test. Then, I quickly got a lift from two Krian friends back to Taiping. I should say, it was a wonderful weekend though I have to postpone my birthday celebration with my family. Anyway, I have brought home a few books to read such as "Trauma Care-For The Love Of Life" written by Dr Abu Hassan Asaari Abdullah and BLS for Healthcare Providers by the American Heart Association.

Being at Hospital Bahagia made me think. Since I'm very interested especially to learn more about the treatment they have or how to help to place a mentally disturbed patient there , I was lucky to be there.

For that I think it is easier as I've made friends with the officers there. It is indeed very sad to see mentally disturbed people walking along the streets. Those ladies get gang-raped at night and killed. Those men wasting their lives away without any treatment. My ex-student is one of them and I am going to do something to help him one of these days. Let us not just stand and stare. At least we can do something to help these unfortunate people or at least bring their case to someone who can .