My job as a physiotherapist really is one of the most rewarding. Helping other people, in all honesty, has always been my primary objective. Even as a young child, I have always wanted to become a doctor or a teacher – always on the move, always finding ways to be of service to others. And as a physiotherapist, I am practically both.
Truth be told, physiotherapy is not as exciting as being a health care provider stationed in an emergency room. In this field of medicine, we often get patients who have already undergone surgery or some sort of treatment. Our main responsibility is to provide rehabilitation; to help our patients alleviate pain and other symptoms plus regain optimal functioning of affected body parts.
But there have been times when I was in the position of an emergency health care worker too. Take for instance this one time when I had to help a cricket player who badly hit his shoulder in the middle of a game.
It was a sunny Saturday morning in Middle Park where I live. It just so happened that I was passing by this local cricket club, Middle Park Cricket Club, my morning brew from a nearby café in hand, when I heard the commotion from the players. One of them was injured after hitting his shoulder on the hard ground.
I immediately ran towards them and saw the man cringing in pain. It was standard operating procedure for health care providers to introduce ourselves and inform them of my knowledge in first aid, which I did.
Kneeling down beside him, I felt for his pulse and it was weak. His arm and hand were cold and pale. Aside from the excruciating pain, I knew that it was a possible case of shoulder dislocation.
The cricket club had some tools for first aid, god bless them. But not everyone had the knowledge to use those so I set out to help them, telling the rest of the team how this kind of injury had to be dealt with.
With two shirts rolled together, I immobilised his arm, bending it carefully in a 90 degree angle. I asked for a towel and I placed it around his right arm and chest, creating a make-shift sling. One of the man’s teammates had an ice pack and I asked him to place it near the patient’s shoulder to lessen the swelling.
And then I asked them to bring the injured man to the nearest emergency room in Middle Park.
If you ever find yourself in a situation such as this, take note of what I just mentioned above: immobilise first, ice it (do not put the ice directly on the skin, though) and then rush the patient to the hospital.
After a week, that Middle Park cricket player suddenly called on my clinic, Capital Physiotherapy, and asked for rehabilitative treatment. I was really glad he came to consult with me for post-injury treatment because my team and I can really be of help to him.
If you would like to know more about the services we offer at Capital Physiotherapy, please click here. You could give us a call for any questions or if you decide to set an appointment with us. We are only 10 minutes away from Middle Park.