Occupational hazards
on Fiona Craven (Guyana), 28/Mar/2012 00:24, 34 days ago
Having a moment to breathe at work the other week, I started looking through the registry book that’s kept in one of the rehab departments. It’s a paper record of every patient seen and is a wonderful archive for the curious minded like myself. Information that’s recorded includes name of patient, address, age, gender, profession and ailment.Readingthrough it, my imagination has fun creating stories around these bare facts that document part of these patients’ lives. Here’s a snapshot:Seaman, 53 M, pain in left shoulder(hoisting up the main sail?)Driver, 35 M, pain in L. kneeHarvester, 28 M, hand fracture to 4-5 fingers(I’m guessing that was a bad day at work)Miner, 64 M, pain in R. shoulder(those diamonds can be heavy!)Babysitter, 51 F, pain in R. knee(kicked by a two year old?)Sugar boiler, 41 M, injured R. elbowClerk, 23 M, dislocated shoulder(I like to imagine him playing football after work to ease the boredom of his job, pity it ended up with a dislocated shoulder!)Cosmetologist, 33 F, pain in lower back and L. legTeacher, 30 F, damaged R. handMason, 19 M, head injury(falling rock?)Pensioner, 67 M, strokeHousewife, 51 F, stiffness in body(there’s a lot of overworked housewives inGuyana)Cleaner, 41 F, dislocated right thumbElectrician, 31 M, severe pain R. shoulder(possible electrocution?)Newspaper vendor, 28 M, lower back painSoldier, 19 M, injured right hand(another possible army compensation case?)Statistician, 33 M, pain in both knees, wrists, L. elbow (what are the chances of that?!)Pensioner, 68 M, broken pelvis(what was he doing?!)