Sunday 24 November 2019

IV poles must not be used as skateboards

IV poles must not be used as skateboards...nor must those small oxygen trolleys or...
There are endless things around hospitals that can be misused I suppose. Sometimes it can be fun - if you think nobody else is watching.
It is a long hike from the car park to the hospital ward in which the Senior Cat is at present. Middle Cat and I have had to avoid the usual beds being pushed past us, the trolleys with an oxygen bottle or two, trolleys with meals, trolleys with empty meal containers, trolleys of clean linen, trolleys with mysterious medical items and more.
And then there are the IV poles. I don't know what it is about IV poles. I remember the notices in the children's  hospital with the kill-joy statement, "IV poles must not be used as skateboards". It is perfectly understandable of course. They really should not be used as skateboards. It isn't what they are intended for but....oh the fun of at least pretending for a moment that you are not sick, that life is normal and that you can do that triple twist or whatever it is. 
The corridors in this particular hospital are long. They are often empty and deserted as you move from the "private" to the "public" side and then back again. The lay out is confusing. Middle Cat and I got lost again yesterday because we went up in the wrong lift. (There seem to be lifts all over the place. The problem is that they don't go sideways as well.)
And it was that little adventure in which we came across two young porters. The temptation was obviously too much. One of them was sneaking a ride on an IV pole - urged on by his mate.
    "Go on, yeah that's right...you got it mate!"
They saw us. They tried to look innocent.
     "You won't tell?"
I looked around.
     "I can't see the notice."
     "What notice?"
     "The one that says IV poles must not be used as skateboards. They are all over the place in the children's area."
      "We don't work there."
      "I can see that."
They looked at each other and then back at me.
      "Look, it's hospital equipment - it could be hooked up to something to save someone's life. You were being idiotic but I don't think you are idiots," Middle Cat told them.
They sighed and followed us to the nearest lift.
      "Does it really take two of you to get one?" I asked as they pushed the button.
      "No, I sort of met him on the way," one of them said of the other.
      "Convenient," Middle Cat muttered to me as we left.
While I was waiting for Middle Cat to finish a conversation with one of the many members of staff she seems to know I saw them again, this time wheeling a bed. They were talking to a very elderly and very frightened looking woman.
I couldn't hear what they were saying but a small smile appeared on her face. As they waited again for the lift to take them somewhere one of them saw me. He gave me a "thumbs up" and said,
     "We're telling her not to use her IV pole as a skateboard."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lesson learnt and passed on...

LMcC