Calling a Doctor

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 674, 28 May 1929, Page 8

Calling a Doctor

Need for Better Phone System

A MIDNIGHT alarm in a sleeping household. The distressing cry of a gravely-stricken husband, mother or child -—sound more terrifying even than the dread crackle of tire. “Call a doctor!” The urgent instruction is given while emergency aid is attempted. Then the maddening dilemma. Who shall be called? Will he be available? Can he arrive in time to relieve suffering, to save a life ?

T UCKY indeed is the family which has not been faced, at least once, with this situation. Lucky indeed is the sufferer, attacked by sudden, unexpected illness in the hours of darkness. who has been assured at once that medical aid is at hand, unfailingly, immediately. To the comparvively few whose circumstances and experiences are such that a doctor is their acquaintance or tegular advisor, this does not apply. But to the family whose medical needs arc few and far between, whose doctor is the owner of the firstseen number in a hastily-snatched telephone book, if may become of grave importance at any time. Perhaps tonight. What is etc usual po-jltion? Sud ion illness is discovered, mote than often ia the dead of night, a. dash to >.be most handy telephone, and the anxious; relative is faced, in Auckland, with a list of nearly 200 names in alphabetical order, not sfK grouped according to locality. A few tributes are lost in a search for a handy address and a number is tries. If the caller is lucky the doctor is at home and available. Again, if the called is lucky, the doctor is laminar with ute address of the patient, and is ready for an immediate journey. But the cailei must he lucky. Surely the element of luck is stronger than the circumstances warrant. More etten many calls must be made and many.disappointments faced. A pre-, clous hour may pass hoivoe an availaide doctor is communicated with, given instructions, and hurried on his way.

And wha: of the doctors? From a personal point of view the position is tven more unsatisfactory. A busv medical man with his regular clientele of patients is liable to be summoned at any hour of the day or night, but he knows that to bo part of his allimports nt work, and meets it regu lolly and systematically. He may bo “booked up” every night for many weeks; not necessarily •.-.-ovking at the bedside of a patient, but under a distinct obligation 10 be available immediately if his patients require bis services. What, then, is he to do when he is called to the telephone by a complete stranger, who pleads urgently for his attendance at a home in some dark, unfamiliar suburb—a home situated in a street the name of which hitherto has been unknown to him? If he is bound by one of his many obligations, the only course is to refuse. If he consents, he faces the uncertainty of a difficult search for the stricken home.

It is strange that such absence of system exists in a community where other public services, in which speed is the essence of the contract, are so well arranged. If fire breaks out, the distracted householder calls the central station, and the brigade does the rest. The most convenient station is communicated with, and a waiting engine speeds off through the night. The same efficiency operates when the services of the police are needed. But if urgent medical attention is required the householder who has no regular medical adviser must try his luck and take a chance of selecting from 200 numbers, one of which will answer his frantic call. There would appear to be a simple solution of this difficulty—this bugbear in the lives of medical men and uncertainty for the private citizen. It would consist of establishing a central medical headquarters, open all night, the telephone number of which could be printed prominently in telephone books beside other emergency numbers, such as those for the fire brigade, the police, the hospital and the ambulance. It may be said that the ambulance and the hospital provide continuous medical service. This is true when removal to hospital is obviously imperative, but there are cases in which the householder would hesitate to call an ambulance until medical advice had been received.

Many years ago the Auckland medical fraternity had a working arrangement by which certain of 'heir number were assigned for urgent calls on week-ends and at other special times. As the city grew and the number of doctors in practice increased tho scheme was dropped. It seems a pity that it was not extended and improved.

A night medical headquarters could be arranged cheaply and simply, say. in conjunction with a central night pharmacy. When sudden illness occurred the householder would 1-now immediately the correct place to lodge his call for aid. When the message came an atteudant would consult a specially and nightly prepared list of available doctors. select the man nearest to the house of the patient, and advise him with expert exactitude. The cost of such a service might, be covered by a small increase in each fee, portion of which could go to the overhead account of the headquarters. E.H.S.M.