ICE ~ In case of emergency

There was a campaign in 2008 to have numbers which could be reached in case there was an emergency. I remember putting my ICEs but then again even my mulika mwizi has a security code (yeah am guarded like that, no kiss kiss and tell tell!). So on Saturday evening I am sitting in my room writing this post, my mom calls and we have a heart to heart chat and since she was walking she hangs up to board a matatu and promises to call later when she gets home. Ten minutes later, 6.11pm, she calls back; she is crying in pain shouting I go she has had an accident! My mind stops working for a second and then goes on an overdrive. I start calling all her friends and what do I get, number engaged, what the heck, is is the time to be engaged.  Dial dial dial engaged engaged… I put on torn socks and leave in a huff my mind is just not at peace, the image in my head is a crushed wreck with her in there crying for help. I tell Mwenda what happened while on the way, he uses that line from 3 idiots the movie if you have seen it all iz vell(all is well- Indian accent) that calms me a little but the worry can’t leave me alone even with a gun. If you have ever heard someone scream from a maternity ward or ever witnessed an accident scene maybe you could feel me, that cry will never leave my mind, a cry so full of pain :-(. I thought I was mature but when death scared, I am as helpless like a baby Oryx surrounded by hungry laughing hyenas instead of a lioness. I don’t have a clue what to do; I am sure I would never qualify for disaster management or anything dealing with emergencies… But, like what one of my older relatives said to me on the way to the hospital nobody ever is prepared for tough life decisions; like your wife having to go through an abrupt C section since the baby refused to come out and she is in the middle of labour; you just take steps with guidance of those close to you.

Mulika mwizi

I arrive at the hospital and guess what, it being a government hospital 2 hours later in the emergency area and she has not been attended to yet! I hate everyone there the doctors, nurses, and clinical officers, how can you not even give a pain jab. But I can’t display that, since they are the same people to give her first aid. I hate the driver for not being careful, but I decide to hold my horses and not vent. We go and get an x-ray and luckily for her she broke a leg and did not hurt anywhere else. She winces when the leg gets touched even slightly. The doctor on duty finally sees us gives her a jab for the pain and tells us that we have to wait until Monday when a plaster can be done on her, that was not going to happen, there was no way she was going to be admitted there, two hours to get first aid and another day and half to get treated??? Mh mh no way. I thank God for her friends whom I found there with her and they help my confused little self. Like I said if I was all alone I would have been lost on what to do. In the waiting room there is a 5 year old who has swallowed a 20 shilling coin and it is stuck on his gut he also has to wait until Monday and the way he is drooling you could see the pain in his little confused eyes, I really felt for the father who could not be allowed in the children’s wards which only had mothers and their kids not fathers! Why can’t fathers also be admitted with their kids too, without asking stupid questions like mama yake ako wapi? Do you wait for a mother to come when your child hurts is in pain because you are a father and the hospital doesn’t have a father child ward? When we tell the doctor that we aren’t going to get admitted till Monday they tell us that we cannot have a splint for holding the leg in position until we get to another hospital, so that we don’t aggravate the situation; another helpless period for me that became. One of mum’s friends talks to one of the staff and they pledge to have the splint returned to the hospital, I am and will forever will be grateful to her. Sunday my youngest Aunt, God bless her soul, comes around and we take her to Nairobi Women’s Hospital, the orthopedic surgeon is not around but we are assured he will be there in a couple of hours, nothing like Monday, phew that a relief. The doc finally comes in, a jolly good fellow and assures us that the leg will be ok in no time and will take six weeks to heal. He tells us of all the possible procedures and since the leg had developed swelling it has to wait for ten days so that it returns to its normal size and then get sorted and plastered. We all laugh when he tells us that there will be a lot of screaming as he realigns the leg bones and he needs strong nurses to help him.  Mum looks me in the eyes but I keep avoiding a stare, I am afraid of letting her see my vulnerabilities. Well, tell you what, she didn’t scream, I was at the operating room door eavesdropping and now she is learning how to use crutches…

I now have decided to adopt a read and destroy evidence policy and leave security codes open, so all ye snoops can have a field day… I sincerely beg you too to remember to put an ICE before the names on those numbers that need to be alerted in case of emergencies NOW!