环球英语 — 170：Health Worker Diaries: Paramedic

　　Voice 1

Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight 1 program. I’m Liz Waid.

Voice 2

And I’m Rachel Hobson. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

“Working together for health.”

That was the main theme of World Health Day 2006. Every year in April people around the world come together to observe this special day. The World Health Organization, the WHO, leads events for the day. In 2006, the WHO encouraged people to work together to improve public health. But they also wanted people to think about all the work that health workers already do.

Voice 2

The World Health Organization says that health workers are ‘the most valuable resources we have for health.’ But the World Health Organization says that, in 2006, there was also a severe lack of health workers in more than fifty [50] countries.

Voice 1

So the WHO began a new project to show the world how valuable health workers are. This project was called “The Health Worker Diaries.” The WHO invited health workers in different jobs and different places to write about their experiences. Nimrod Gutman is one health worker who wrote back.

Voice 2

Nimrod Gutman is a paramedic in Israel. He is part of a team that answers emergency calls. He performs emergency medical treatments. But he is not a doctor. Nimrod describes the beginning of a normal day.

Voice 3

“My day starts after five in the morning, when I arrive at the station house. I inspect every part of the ambulance emergency vehicle. It contains the most advanced medical equipment and medicines. They are for all kinds of emergency care... And of course, the ambulance has a G.P.S. system. This system communicates with satellites around the earth. It helps us find the quickest way to any place. After making sure the equipment is working and ready, we drive to the standby point. The standby point is a room with a small kitchen where we can make food, a television, three beds and a telephone.”

“Every ambulance team includes a driver, a doctor and a paramedic like me. They stay together at the standby point waiting for calls. In general, there are about four calls a day. And the treatment of each case lasts about an hour and a half.”

Voice 1

Emergency health workers are often the first to answer an emergency call. So, they receive training in many different areas. They must know how to deal with many different situations. So Nimrod must be prepared for any kind of emergency - even a quick birth! That is what this day’s first call is about.

Voice 3

“First thing in the morning we are called to attend to a pregnant 2 woman, who is having contractions 3. She is beginning to have her baby. When we arrive at her house, her husband answers the door. He has lost most of the color in his face. And he looks ... frightened. His wife is lying on their bed shouting in pain. The baby ... is already crowning 4. His head has already appeared.”

“We ask the driver to get the husband out of the room. He is close to fainting. Push! You can do it! Push! The baby comes into the world quickly. We make sure the mother and child are healthy and safe. Then we call the father in to cut the umbilical cord 5. The umbilical cord connects the baby to its mother. Now the father has calmed down. And he performs his duty very well! By the time we reach the hospital both parents are in a very happy state. We do not want to leave them, but we say goodbye because another call has come in.”

Voice 2

Often, paramedics are only able to begin a patient’s treatment. They do what they can to help the patient or make a patient comfortable. They may begin to give a patient medicine. Or, they try to reduce a patient’s pain. Then, they bring the patient to the hospital or another doctor for final treatment.

Voice 3

“After leaving the new family at the hospital, we travel to our next call. We reach the home of a sixty [60] year old man with pain and pressure in his chest. He has a far-away look in his eyes. We quickly examine him. The exam shows the man is having a heart attack. We quickly take him to the hospital, and into the surgery 6 department. As soon as we reach the parking lot another call comes in.”

“The patient is a thirty [30] year old man. He has been injured through the explosion 7 of an oil pipe. He has a wide open hole in his lower abdomen 8, near his stomach. When we reach him he is surprisingly calm. Happily we are able to confirm there are no injuries to his internal 9 organs. This would have made the wound far more serious. We bandage and cover the wound and get him to the hospital. There, a group of hospital workers is already waiting for him.”

Voice 1

Being an emergency paramedic is difficult work. But Nimrod believes the work he is doing is important. And he believes that his experiences growing up on a kibbutz greatly influenced his opinion of people. A kibbutz is a planned community. Members of the community work closely 10 with each other. They often share responsibilities and resources. Nimrod tells about his influences:

Voice 3

“I was born in and grew up on the Kibbutz Lahav. It is not far from Kfer Saba. As a child, my education was centred around socialist 11 beliefs. Growing up on the kibbutz made me respect and encourage the idea of fairness and shared labour. Those values inform my everyday work. But I think it was my mother who had the greatest influence on me. She taught me that we are all partners in a shared journey.”

Voice 2

This is a very similar message to World Health Day 2006. We must all work together to improve global public health. And health workers are the leaders in this fight for global health.

Voice 1

Health workers like Nimrod are a valuable resource. And World Health Day 2006 was not the only time for people to think about how important health workers are. Think about how health workers have influenced you. And then give thanks for health workers today!

Voice 2

Much of the information for this program, including Nimrod’s words, came from the WHO’s website. There you can find more Health Worker Diaries. You can find a link to the WHO’s website on our website.

Voice 1

The voices you heard were from the United States and South Africa. Computer users 12 can hear more Spotlight programs, read our scripts 13, and see our word list on our website at www . Radio . English . net. This program is called “The Health Worker Diaries - Paramedic.” If you have questions or comments about this program you can e-mail us. Our e-mail address is radio @ english . net.

Voice 2

In this program, we have adapted some of Nimrod’s words into Specialized 14 English to make them easier to understand. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!