Medical Services in India: A Foreign Tourist Recap

City:

Amritsar, Punjab, North India

Location:

Main Market

Situation:

Bicycle rickshaw accident

My travel partner and I were seated side by side upfront, our driver Rakesh, was seated behind us facing toward traffic. The rickshaw driver peddled us up and over the main hill which leads down into the market. As we coasted down the hill and gained speed, I mentioned to my travel buddy that we should be braking instead of gaining speed. No sooner had my words been muttered than traffic came to a virtual standstill. With the weight of 4 people on 3 tires and one well worn brake, our rickshaw went head first into a stopped car. Rakesh avoided injury from a van that ran into the right rear wheel near where he was sitting. My travel partner was fine. And then there was me, thrown from the rickshaw onto the ground.

I had landed on my right hand and although the pain was immediate, I didn’t say anything. Our 4 week trip in the fall of 2006 had just begun a few days earlier and the thought of having to cut it short was disheartening.

The next day while touring the Golden Temple, the pain was worse and unavoidable. Although my travel companions had asked how my visibly scraped hand was, I fibbed thinking I could suffer through the situation in silence. As soon as the temple visit was over the truth came out. The three of us went back to the Hotel Sun City Towers to make some phone calls.

My travel partner purchased travel health insurance which promised to help find local doctors regardless of where you were in the world. This claim turned out to be rather presumptuous as two hours later and with no return phone call, we were none the wiser on where to go. Overhearing our situation while working the phones at the front desk, the hotel owner referred us to a Doctor in town that she claimed was her cousin. The thought of taking her recommendation somehow seemed odd to me. Add in that she waited two hours to mention this association and then factor in he was her supposed cousin…this was shaping up to be a classic Indian scam right?

Once we agreed this was the best course, the owner phoned ahead to inform the Doctor’s office we were on our way. We arrived at the address to find a very nice looking home surrounded by a tall gate. A large clinic sign hung on the exterior showing us the way to the main level offices. We walked inside the waiting area to find a large framed, but soft spoken Sikh male receptionist. Without any waiting we were whisked into the Doctor’s office, clearly given preference over the multiple people left waiting in the entry.

The Doctor’s office was a square, high ceiling room, perfect 4 walls. On walking in, a large desk greeted us flanked by 2 benches on each side. To my shock there were two other patients in the office already. And once again our wait time was nil. The Doctor shifted his focus from the existing patients directly to my aching hand, specifically my right thumb. Also a Sikh man, no surprise given we were in Punjab, the short, round figured Doctor examined my hand and thumb.

Having salve applied to my bum thumb

Based on the exposed skim scrapes he suggested a tetanus shot. Before he would go further, he wanted an x-ray of the hand to ensure there was no fracture.

We were guided to the local hospital by the receptionist we had met briefly only minutes earlier. He had hopped on his scooter to ensure we found our way. Yet again as I walked into the overcrowded emergency room, filled with local residents with real health issues, I was whisked into the x-ray room. With virtually no waiting my hand was photographed and I was sent back to the hotel to wait. Rakesh, my driver, was instructed to return in one hour to pick up the x-ray at which time we would return to the Doctor’s office.

As promised, right on schedule, Rakesh appeared from the emergency room with my x-ray in hand. Only in India would this be allowed and thank goodness. Back to the Doctor’s office where yes, you guessed it, no waiting. My x-ray showed no fracture leaving the Doctor confident it was a bad bruising from the fall. He ordered some salve, a bandage to keep me from using the thumb for 7 days and some pain pills. By now I was beginning to mentally calculate the cost of this crash course in Indian health care . Before moving on to the nurse who would apply my first salve treatment, the doctor pulled out his receipt book.