Medical faculty of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia has a very special posting, known as Elective Posting. Most of us would really look forward to it as allows us to do anything or take part as volunteers in any non-governmental organization, as long as it is educational and it is out of the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan territory. For this, my friend, Azimah and I decided to do our elective posting at the Civil Defense Dang Wangi Operation Control Centre, located on Jalan Padang Tembak in Kuala Lumpur.
The duration of our elective was about two weeks, compromising of special task force and ambulance services.
For Special Task, the call that we respond to ranges from catching wild animals such as snake, fox and huge lizards to destroying the nests of insects such as bees and wasps. This is especially interesting because I get to learn step by step on how to catch a snake, particularly on my very first day. In order to catch a snake we have to when it was last seen and we also have to understand that, cold blooded animals like them likes to stay away from the sun and hot surfaces. If the snake is a large on, we have to grab it by its neck using a snake catcher sticks or if it’s a small snake, you can use your hand. If you do not have the , you can use a long rod to press on its neck. Just make sure that you are wearing gloves, to prevent your hand from being bitten by a python. The types of snake that we frequently encounter are pythons, cobras and black rat snake.
On another note, I also learned about teamwork. When on a special task operation, we have to work in a team. The team leader would be the corporal heading the team. We have to listen to his instructions and act very quickly and calmly. When catching a python, we would usually have to distract it, so one person has to be the “bait”, catching its attention, while the other gets ready to grab it by its neck, from the back or using the snake catcher stick. After grabbing the neck, the other person has to hold its tail, ensuring that the snake does not wrap its body around the other person.
On one fine day, I was told to catch a baby python in a socks drawer. It was my very first time doing it on my own. I was very nervous and scared, but managed to pull through. What have I learn from these experience is that how to calm my nerves in the face of terror. Although it is not the usual activity that a medical student would do for their elective posting, I learned the most essential thing when facing an emergency, which is how to remain calm, follow standard operating procedures and instructions and to tune out what ever cries there are coming out from the public and just focus.
At the operation control center, I also learned how to receive phone calls from the Malaysian Emergency Response Call Centre System, record each call and pass over the corresponding team who are on duty, and to properly listen to every report made by each team over the Motorola Two Way Radio.
The next following week, I was assigned to join with the ambulance services team. The ambulances services by the Civil Defense basically cover medical cases such as stroke, acute coronary syndromes and also motor vehicle accident. For every motor vehicle accident case that I managed to follow I learn to apply basic trauma life support skills and also first aid. For medical cases, I learned to apply what was taught by my lecturers during my internal medicine, surgery and obstetrics and gynecology posting. I would take the opportunity to clerk the patient’s history, do a physical examination and also come up with a provisional diagnosis and its differentials.
I personally think that joining the ambulance team helped me to practice what I have learned and besides applying all the knowledge that I have so far gained, I learn how to be calm when facing a life threatening case, learn to think clearly under immense pressure with limited time and to always remained calm. These are all skills that are required to be a competent doctor. More or less, these experiences exposes me to the situations that I would face when doing emergency medicine posting and I think that it helps me to be prepared mentally.
I believe that it is important for us to try out other activities and join any organization or body that do not necessarily have to do with medicine as it will gives us a lot of experiences that might just be useful for us. Meeting new people and new experiences will make our life richer and exciting. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone will help you grow into a better individual. Whether it’s a sport you have always wanted to learn but never had the chance to or being a volunteer or supporter for a cause, you should try to do something new or different every now and then. It may be challenging at first to step out of your comfort zone, but it is sure is worth a shot.
“The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.”
― Benedict Cumberbatch
Ayesyah Abdullah is fourth year medical student in University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Learn more about the Young Columnists and what inspires them to be part of this program under The Team page.