A follow up on the some issues raised in Boston
The last Bangkok Blog last entry was a about my trip to Boston with my Thai colleagues to talk with some technology people and with the folks at the Massachusetts General Hospital. I had mentioned that one of the most interesting parts of the visit was having a chance to visit the hospital’s Ether Dome. This was the original operating theatre where ether was first used. In addition to the place being interesting from a spatial design perspective, a lot of the “tools of the trade” were also pretty cool and a whole lot scary.
Why do I bring this up again,you might ask? Well, coming from Montreal and having a lot of experience with many of the hospitals in there, I recently noticed a very interesting pictorial article called “This Might Hurt” in the June 2015 issue of Walrus Magazine. As some of you might know, McGill University has just opened its new so-called super hospital and is in the process of closing most of its original teaching institutions, including the Royal Victoria Hospital, which was first opened in 1893. This is a hospital that I know well, as my Mother spent many years in that place.
Anyway the Walrus article looked at the instruments that were found during the move from the old institution into the new facilities. Many of them were very similar, as one would expect, to the ones I saw in Boston. But the photographs taken by the Walrus staff guys are really quite beautiful, even if some of the tools are pretty chilling, so I thought you might like to have a look, particularly given the fact that I had taken such poor photographs in Boston.
The one other follow up point is that in Thailand, and other developing countries, many of these instruments from the early 1900’s are still in use in rural areas where there has not been the money to provide more up to date equipment. So maybe when you are taking those adventure trips into the exotic jungles of Southeast Asia, having had a look at some of the Walrus Magazine photos might help you recognize what some rural healthcare provider is using on you!