It was a clear sunny morning, the cool morning breeze blew through my hair as we traveled down the road back to our station. We had just just finished a call where a man was thrown through a glass window during a fight. I was recovering from that call, enjoying the refreshing breeze, and day dreaming about my upcoming vacation when our radio went off. We where dispatched to a case 41. My partner and I scratched our heads in confusion. Whats a case 41, my partner ask? I opened my book of radio codes and flipped to "case 41" all it said was "baby ?." Confused and anxious we speed towards our unknown target, anticipating a number of things, but I would soon find out I was not prepared for our very special discovery.
As we got closer to the location of the case the police soon joined our response. We followed the police car to the location of the patient. Upon arrival to the scene I got out of the car and looked around, but I saw no patient. It was a quite road surrounded by rubbish and desert. Then the police pointed to a pile of garbage on the side of the road. Ready to explode with anticipation I strolled over to the treasure trove of filth and waste and looked down to find an open bag of garbage. The bag contained what I was expecting, some used tissue, cans of energy drinks, random garbage, and a baby.... WHOA WHOA WHOA, What? Yes I said a baby.
Assuming the worst I was prepared to possibly start resuscitation efforts when the baby looked up at me and smiled. It let out a coo as it moved around and gazed into my eyes with excitment. Luckily the baby appeared to be ok, in fact I was more scared of it than it was of me. I removed the baby from the garbage and got an OB kit. I carefully placed it on a sterile towel and began to clean all the afterbirth, blood, feces, and garbage off it. As I stimulated the baby to evaluate it further it reacted well. I soon found out the umbilical cord and placenta where still attached. I clamped the cord and severed it from the placenta. I suctioned its airway and wrapped it up in a blanket. The ambulance finally arrived and the baby girl was transported as stable to a local government hospital marked "unknown"
It wasn't until the ride back to our station I really started thinking about this whole situation. If a bystander would not have found the baby so early in the morning, it surly would have died in the desert heat exposed to the elements like it was. The baby was not left on the doorstep of an ambulance station, hospital, or even grocery store where someone would find it. It was left for dead on the side of the road, tossed along with the daily garbage. Regardless of the evil behind the situation I was happy the baby was ok. Finally a story to share with you that has a fairly happy ending.
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Thankfully, the baby was found & saved :-)
ReplyDeleteAs expats, this kind of dumping is not only tragic but also so unnecessary. The baby was (most probably) the result of an illicit relationship, whether it be between a pair of TCN's who were unmarried, or the result of related adolescents who 'experimented' with sex. I doubt if you'll ever know.
I volunteered at a facility in the Middle East, that catered for physically & mentally handicapped people. The mentality of some of the family of patients left my blood boiling at times, but it simply wasn't an option to 'speak out'. More than once, a child was pointed out as being found as a newborn in a plastic bag next to a dumpster. Sadly, it really isn't uncommon.