Emergency (in Norwegian style)

Sometimes it may seem that we cause more trouble to E. (our supervisor and guardian :) than are of use to her... I spent quite some time in bed with fever and a sore throat, and later got an unpleasant eye infection. When I got all well, we went to a hike in the fjords with Will and some international students. Already in the beginning of the trip Will fell and bruised his face... So both me and Will have had our own reasons to check out the Kristiansand's hospital. As it is in the past now, I don't see these accidents as some bad luck. In a way, it was an opportunity to explore the different spheres of Norwegian life. We would have never taken notice of the medical system in Kristiansand if we didn't have problems. Now the observations can be useful for our research.

First trip to the hospital: an eye infection

My eye infection started last Tuesday - the sight suddenly became foggy and the eyes went sore. I go to bed hoping to feel better in the morning as together with Will we are planning to explore the zoo (for the third time already - it has to work out this time!). But when I wake up, the eyes still don't feel well, so the first plan of the day is finding a pharmacy.

I have a slight suspicion that we might not be able to buy medicine without a prescription. And, yes, couldn't have been right more - the only treatment I get are the drops of NaCl solution. If I was a Norwegian, it would be easy to get a prescription from the doctor I have registered with. And what about foreigners? "I don't know, maybe you should try just to drop in somewhere... - the pharmacist says."

The infection seems to be stronger than the power of NaCl solution, and I call E. (knowing that her whole family are doctors) to ask - maybe she has some proper medicine at home. Unfortunatelly, E. can't help with the medicine, but she is concerned about my problem and thinks that we should go and see a doctor tomorrow. We agree that E. will pick me up at 8 AM and we will together visit her own doctor.

However, in the morning it appears that the plan is not as simple as it has seemed. E.'s doctor cannot accept me, and we have to follow a general rule - "drop in" to the emergency at the hospital (it accepts everybody). This is not the first time for me as I went to the Norwegian emergency two years ago when I broke my leg in a skiing accident in Oslo. So, when I related the word "emergency" with my memories, the first thought was "oh no..."

In Oslo then the emergency was full of patients, but the doctors appeared to be not in a hurry. They were very peaceful and smiling, but it didn't help when I had to wait for two hours in pain. The doctors seemed to be very free in choosing their working pace. Despite the queue outside their door, they would walk away smiling and lock the door. After a while they would come back, smiling again, check a few patients (smiling) and go "for a walk" again.

Back then, I spent vast amount of time in the hospital, because, as a foreigner, I had to go through emergency for every check up of my leg. What is more, I saw as many different doctors as the number of times I went to the hospital. Every time I had to tell my story from the beginning, and the disturbing thing was that every single doctor saw my condition in (at least) a bit different way. After every visit to a hospital I would come home with new information about what has happened to me and what I should do now.

I feel relieved when I see that the emergency in Kristiansand doesn't look anything like the one in Oslo - there is only one patient waiting before us. E. picks up a number and we take a seat waiting for our time to register. The peacefulness of the staff is in the air just like in Oslo, though. Also like in Oslo, nobody seems to hurry here. Although there is no queue, we have to wait for about half an hour to be registered. The registering lady keeps on walking in and out, giving us a smile every time she passes by.

Finally our number is on the screen. The lady speaks good English, and the registration process runs smoothly. She says that I probably have a conjunctivitis, and, yes, no doctor told me a better diagnosis that day.

I am pondering that in my experience the word "emergency" has some other meaning than the one in Norwegian hospitals. Even though I am the only patient, we still have to wait for another ~20 minutes after registration. I see the doctor passing by several times during the wait. This doctor is only unusual in a sense that he doesn't smile.

Finally I am invited to the doctor's office. Here my time is not waisted at all as the consultation lasts for no more than 3 minutes... I am surprised that the doctor does not look at my eye at all. He is just typing what I tell about my condition and gives me a prescription for medicine when I am finished.

I remember from Oslo times that one has to pay for doctor's consultations in Norway. However, the doctor doesn't give me any bill, and I assume he has been kind enough not to charge me for 3 minutes of his time. Therefore, after some struggle with the door, E. and I leave the hospital. But here the same doctor comes chasing us and tells rudely in Norwegian: "Det er ikke gratis sykehus!" (This is not a free hospital!). So we come back and I pay 130 NOK for my 3 minute monologue at the doctor's office.



When we go to the pharmacy, it is celebrating a non-smoking day. Norwegians really seem to like their creme cake (bløtkake) as they have it on every occasion I have seen. The non-smoking day in the pharmacy is not an exception. Anyway, I get the medicines quickly, and my meeting with Norwegian health system is over for today.


Second trip to the hospital: Will's initiation to the vikings

It so happened that during a hike in Lysefjord Will stepped on a slippery patch and fell bruising his nose and lip. We washed the wound with some raspberry flavoured mineral water, put a plaster and Will was able to finish the trip. However, when he looked into the mirror back home, Will relized that the bruise looked worse than he thought.

I am in my room chatting on skype with my parents when E. calls. She sounds quite scared and asks if I could go to the hospital together with Will. E. has called a taxi already and is worried because Will hasn't answered her last call. Quickly I end my conversations both with parents and E., find Will in his room and we go to a taxi together.

The taxi driver is friendly - he asks what we are doing in Kristiansand and wishes Will good luck with his nose. But the friendliest place in Kristiansand is the one he brings us to - the hospital. Knowing the system already, I pick up the number and we take a seat in the waiting room. The registering lady is smiling at us from the distance. Like the last time, only one person is waiting before us in a queue.

Only about half an hour later, though, this person is invited to see the doctor. In the meantime we are still waiting to register. It seems that there is something wrong with the computers in the registering office. The nurses are gathering there, checking the coputer, calling somebody. However, there is plenty of women laughter in the registering office as well. The staff is clearly in a good mood.

00.40 AM and we are still waiting. In the meantime more patients gather in the waiting room. You can see that these are the "night patients": a woman in "going-out" outfit and her boyfriend, keeping a hand on his stomach; three men, one of which has a wounded fist; two young women dressed in nearly pyjamas. There also comes a family of Middle Eastern descent with a baby. It seems that his mother has some kind of problem, though.

Finally Will is asked to register. The lady smilingly informs us that it is too late to do the stiches now as the accident happened about 12 hours ago. Nevertheless, the wound will be looked at, so after registration we continue waiting. Killing time, I have been reading a Norwegian children's book, but now decide to watch the TV. However, the programme is extremely boring to me as it is on probably the most "overplayed" topic - the US and Iraq. It is more interesting to watch how the Middle Eastern family watches the same programme with great attention, especially the elderly woman (probably the grandmother of the baby).

Everybody is killing time in their own way: the girls in pyjamas go out for a cigarette, Will is reading a book on his iPhone. On another TV screen I notice a slideshow about the rules of the hospital. I write down the taxi number (we will need it later) and inform Will that doctor's consultation at night is twice as expensive as at daytime - it costs 250 NOK. The information also says that emergencies are divided into three levels, therefore patients shouldn't be surprised if the ones who come later get to see the doctor first.

We are obviously not the top priority according to this allocation of patients. The family is asked to the doctor's office before us and so is the man with the wounded fist. The information slideshow in three different languages (Norwegian, English and German) runs in front of my eyes at least five times. We hear the nurse calling "William" at around 1.30, an hour and a half after we arrived.

The personell which looks after Will is really caring and nice. Two nurses talk to both of us (in perfect English) about our experiences in Norway, about the hike that we went to, about what we saw. At the same time they clean and desinfect Will's wounds carefully. It seems painful, but Will is delighted by the beauty of one of the nurses (she is a slim blond with a very pleasant smile), so he takes the pain very well. The nurses discuss for a while if the wounds should be stitched but then decide that they are quite shallow and will heal naturally. Eventually, some plaster is put and the nurses let us go. Will asks for some extra plaster if the one he has falls off. The nurses gladly give it to him.

"Now it is the payback time,- I tell Will when the procedures are over." We go back to the registration office, ready to get rid of 250 NOK. However, we are only asked for 50 NOK and that pleasantly surprises us. It appears that we only have to pay for the procedure because Will did not get a doctor's consultation - he was looked after by nurses.

Glad about the saving we call a cab to go home. The driver that arrives does not speak English and I get an opportunity to speak Norwegian. Yes, personally I like Norwegians who don't speak English because they let me practise the language I want to learn. So, thanks to the taxi driver and me understanding each other, we reach our beds at 2 AM. It has been a very log day...