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| Sunday, 30 November 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Pushpa Ramyani Soyza : A Nightingale of our times One of the Jaycees ten awards for Outstanding Young Persons this year was won by a young nurse at the General Hospital Colombo. Her untiring efforts in raising awareness of the importance of first aid have contributed to a significant decrease in the number of preventable deaths, such as those caused mainly by bleeding and shock. by vimukthi fernando
To better the conditions they face and to create an atmosphere pleasing for the sick. Her efforts had recently made her one of the ten Outstanding Young Persons of Sri Lanka, awarded by the Jaycees' (Junior Chamber) Sri Lanka. She is Pushpa Ramyani Soyza, Training Coordinator and Team Leader in the Accident Services Department, Colombo General Hospital. A woman can do wonders if she is determined, says Pushpa. And she is that kind of woman. One who changes the world. A nurse by 'accident' is how she describes herself. But, once she pledged for service, her commitment became her very life. "If one performs one's duty correctly with the right attitude there is no need for special meritorious acts," says Pushpa for "we could make life better for those who are truly in need." Just out of the Nursing School in 1985, Pushpa's first appointment was at the Burns and Plastic Surgery unit. Her experience there soon gained her a transfer to the Accident Service. It was the "university" she graduated from, according to Pushpa. The hospital and especially the accident service is what taught her about life, she says. Awareness Life, or rather the "waste of life" in her own words was what propelled Pushpa on her voyage of saving lives. "I was intrigued by what was happening. People dying unnecessarily - due to lack of first aid, lack of awareness in ways to prevent household accidents, lack of patience and tolerance of each other," she goes on. The incidents etched deep in her mind during her work hours were turned into words as diary entries, every day. She was biding her time to transform the desires in her heart into action.
Her primary responsibility was to sort patients in to three categories - those who are serious and needing immediate treatment, surgery and so on; those who are not so serious but needing attention and those who do not need immediate care or attention. Her experience in this regard at the accident service could never be forgotten, says Pushpa recalling the bomb blast at the Central Bank, which was one of the major disasters in Colombo. "Over 1,500 patients flooded the accident service in a very short time. The total number of beds in the hospital amounts to 3,000 and we really had to work hard and I am happy to say that we saved a lot of lives," says Pushpa. Her most unforgettable moment comes from the same event. "It was a time we did not have even a few seconds in our hands. And my dress was covered with blood. Suddenly I felt someone touching my hand. I turned to see, a well built man bleeding all over. He had lost a leg, an arm and the stomach was split open. Technically, he should be dead by that time but there he was, asking me for some water. I realised that there was no hope for him but I wanted to grant his last wish. I rushed to get some water for him, but, by the time I returned he was dead. And the look on his face, I can never forget," says Pushpa. Inhuman The inhuman acts of the so called humans drove her forward with gusto on her campaign saving lives and making the hospital a better place for the patients as well as the hospital staff. "If we say hospitals are boring, stressful and so on, it could be a wrong impression," says Pushpa. "We can create a wonderfully caring and warm atmosphere enjoyed alike by the patients and the staff by giving just a little of ourselves," she points out. That is what she tried to achieve by establishing entertainment groups, welfare units and Seva Vanitha units in the accident service department. These units, managed by the hospital staff give an equal opportunity to all categories of hospital staff to participate in different events. Besides providing entertainment for the patients, it helps staff to improve their creative skills - by way of talent competitions, musical shows, dance performances and so on. And some units are geared to provide emotional and material support for the patients as well. Material support though not a must is an essential need of the patients who come to the accident service, says Pushpa. "It is not the rich who come to this hospital but the general public. However, even if one is from a rich background there are times you could loose all your wealth as a consequence of the accident, with long hospitalisation and treatment. It is even worse for this kind of people for they cannot go begging for money from anyone. Sometimes they do not even have enough money to buy a pair of clutches," explains Pushpa. The hardships faced by some of the patients made her share her diary entries with the public, through a Sinhala language newspaper. "The response encouraged me to take the cause, out to the people. The need for first aid, need for knowledge to prevent accidents and to stop unnecessary deaths," says Pushpa. Her initiative in raising awareness of the importance of first aid and taking the first aid practices to the public through television programmes led to a dramatic increase in the number of patients receiving some form of first aid before admittance to hospital. "We used to receive over 3,000 dead bodies in the accident service per year. Lives lost mainly due to bleeding and shock which could be prevented. And in 2001 the number of patients who had received first aid was 11%. After the programme it had increased to 40% in 2002 and 2003. This reduces the number of deaths, and I am happy." And now Pushpa visits schools, armed forces, private corporations and government establishments raising awareness amongst the public on first aid and preventing accidents. It was not always a smooth pathway that she travelled. It was only a few who were all out to help. Many obstacles on her pathway, she overcame by "lying low, for those who are wrong and working with negative or bad motives do not last long," she smiles. This lone campaigner had been recognised by the Rotary Capital City and Rotary East with special awards as well. And her hope for the future? "To continue the work and to publish my diary," says Pushpa. Perhaps, the 2nd in the world after Florence Nightingale, Pushpa will be the first Sri Lankan nurse to publish her diary entries in a book form. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
She may not be 'the Lady of the Lamp' who visited hospital beds
chatting with the patients looking into their welfare in the light of the
oil lamp she carried - but one with indomitable courage and commitment for
the well being of the lives that come her way.
Opportunity arose, in the form of special training on Disaster
Management and a scholarship in Japan to further her experience, at a
critical time when Sri Lanka was facing the threat of terrorists. Back in
Sri Lanka, she was appointed Team Leader of the Accident Service Unit
where she was responsible for the overall efficiency of patient care in
disastrous times.
