A. Conditions/symptoms etc. which have developed recently.
| SYMPTOM | CAUSE |
| finger is inflamed ankle’s swollen eyes hurt back is very painful have got a sore throat have got a temperature have got a stomachache have got diarrhea have got toothache feel sick | cut myself tripped and fell reading too much sunbathing caught a bug went out in the rain ate too much ate something that disagreed with me lost a filling something upset me |
| POSSIBLE DIAGNOSIS | POSSIBLE CURE |
| it’s infected sprained it it’s eye strain it’s sunburn it’s a throat infection caught a chill it’s indigestion it’s a tummy upset it’s a nerve mild food poisoning | have a penicillin injection have/get it X-rayed get some eye-drops buy some lotion get some pastilles stay in bed take a stomach-powder take some tablets see a dentist see a doctor |
B. Conditions/symptoms etc., which have been apparent for some time.
| can’t sleep have got a bad cough keep getting headaches | very worried smoking too much hit my head |
| it’s just nerves throat irritation mild concussion | take some sleeping pills see a doctor/have it seen to take it easy |
TEXT D.
GENERAL HOSPITALS
Read the text and be ready to discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of private medicine.
General hospitals treat patients with all kinds of medical and surgical needs and are
concerned primarily with conditions likely to require treatment lasting for days, or, at most, a few weeks. There is a considerable trend towards day-care surgery in which patients are not detained overnight after their operations. Nearly all medium-size and large hospitals also have outpatient departments covering a wide range of specialties, to which patients are referred by general practitioners (GPs) most of the patients admitted to the hospital wards for surgical treatment are brought in after being seen at an out-patient clinic. Clinical staff works in out-patient departments as well as in wards: operating theatres, intensive care units, and other departments. Most medium-size hospitals also have an accident and emergency (A&E) or a casualty department and often a maternity department.
Staffing and facilities
General hospitals are staffed by consultants in the various medical, surgical, gynaecological, paediatric, and psychiatric disciplines and by their junior medical and nursing staff. In addition, there is an additional hierarchy on the administrative side concerned with general staff administration, catering, housekeeping, laundry, engineering, accounting, medical records, cleaning, finance, purchasing, stocktaking, and salaries. Clinical departments include a range of diagnostic facilities such as X-ray, computerized axial tomography, and ultrasound scanning, electro diagnostic facilities and pathology laboratories; pharmaceutical services, physiotherapy; social services and suites of operating rooms (theatres) with their ancillary services; for instrument sterilization, changing rooms, and stock rooms.
The largest general hospitals cover a wide range of specialties and usually have, in addition to those mentioned, a premature-baby unit, a psychiatric wing; full facilities for dental and facial surgery, plastic surgery and reconstructive surgery; a radiotherapy unit; MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanning; a renal dialysis unit; organ transplant facilities; an occupatorial therapy department; a physical medicine unit with physiotherapy gymnasium and therapeutic pool; a burns unit; a department of medical physics; and a lithotriptor unit for the noninvasive treatment of kidney stones and gallstones. Some very large general hospitals have a cyclotron for the production of artificial isotopes for PET scanning (position emission tomography)
TEXT E.
FIRST AID
1. As you read the text look for an answer to the following question: When should you go to the emergency room?
You can get treatment for serious medical problems include heart attack, broken bones, serious bleeding, animal bites, or serious burns. Go to the emergency room for sudden serious pain, such as chest or stomach pains. For common health problems such as colds, fevers, and rushes, you should go to the polyclinic. Do not go to the emergency room for chronic problems or you can make a doctor’s appointment for. If possible, call your own doctor before you go to the emergency room.
Hospital emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day. They are often crowded and you might have to wait a long time to see a doctor. When the doctor examines you, she will ask many questions about your specific injury or condition. She will ask also if you have any allergies, what medications you are presently taking, and your medical history. Sometimes you might need x-rays or special laboratory tests. Usually, the emergency room releases you the same day. They will tell you to go to a doctor outside the hospital for follow up treatment. If your condition is serious, you might have to stay in the hospital.
Here are some tips on what to do at accidents. Read them and ask yourself if you know what to do in the case of emergency. Discuss if it is necessary to take a first aid course so that each person knows more about this.
Car accident
(If emergency services are already at the scene, drive past slowly and don’t interfere)
a. Control any serious bleeding and make sure victims can breath.
b. Leave victims in the car unless there is a danger from fire there.
c. Switch off ignition and lights of any car involved. Make sure the brakes are on.
d. Don’t smoke or allow any bystanders to smoke.
e. Look to see if any victims have been thrown over a nearby wall or hedge.
f. Set warning triangles or send bystanders 200 metres behind and ahead of the scene to warn other drivers to slow down.
g. Get a bystander to call the ambulance, write down exactly where you are, the number of victims and apparent injuries.
h. Treat the victims as best as you can without pulling them out.
i. Wait for the emergency services to arrive.
Snake bite
1. Don’t cut the wound.
2. Don’t suck out the poison.
3.Encourage the patient to rest, lying down.
4 Wash the wound and apply a clean dry dressing.
5. Bandage firmly with a soft pad pressing on the wound.
6. Prevent the patient from moving the affected part, this reduces the spread of poison.
7. Get the victim to the hospital as soon as possible.
Shock
1.Move the patient as little as possible. Call for a doctor or ambulance.
2.Position the patient with his or her head low and feet raised – do not move any part that may be fractured.
3.Loosen tight clothing.
4.Keep the patients warm, cover them with a coat or blanket.
Artificial respiration
1. Artificial respiration. By holding the patient in this position, his lungs will be drained of any liquid almost immediately.
2. Lay the patient on his back …
3. … press the head back-wards and the lower jaw upwards …
4. … seal the patient’s nose by pinching his nostrils together …
5. … then, place your wide open mouth right round his and blow hard …
6. … and repeat six times quickly and then at about ten times a minute.
7. Repeat the action each time the patient’s chest falls
8. Carry on until the patient breathes naturally or help arrives.
Anyone whose breathing has stopped needs artificial respiration at once. Lack of oxygen can cause brain damage within only three to five minutes and longer oxygen starvation leads to death.
Breathing can stop from one of many reasons: drowning, electric shock, poisoning, suffocation or a sudden illness such as a heart attack.
To check whether a person is breathing, put your ear close to his nose and mouth: you should be able to hear air passing in and out of his throat. Or put a mirror close to his lips: if he is breathing, the mirror mists over.
Guided Conversation
| Questions on the text | 1. If someone’s breathing has stopped what should you do immediately? 2. How long does it take for lack of oxygen to cause brain damage? 3. What happens if a person is starved of oxygen for more than 5 minutes? 4. What can cause breathing to stop? 5. What’s the best thing to do to see whether someone’s breathing? 6. What should you be able to hear? 7. How else can you check whether someone is breathing? 8. Why does the rescuer put the patient face down across his knees? 9. Where does he put the patient next. 10. What does he do to the patient’s head and lower jaw. 11. What does he do to the patient’s nose? 12. Where does the rescuer put his own mouth? 13. What does he do then? 14. How many times does he blow quickly? 15. How often does he repeat the process? 16. How long should he continue? |
| Check if | Ask whether …. 1. the patient is lying face upwards or face downwards. 2. The patient is on a bed or on the ground. 3. his head is pressed backwards or forwards. 4. the rescuer repeats her action each time the patient'’ chest falls. 5. the rescuer breathes hard or gently into the patient'’ mouth. 6. the rescuer repeats this six or ten times. |
| General test | “How good are you in an emergency?” 1. How should you treat a nosebleed? a) Lay the victim down with his head raised? b) Put a bunch of keys down his back? c) Get him to sit with his head slightly forward and pinch his nostrils? |
| a | b | c |
| 2. When someone faints, should you: a) Lay him down with his legs higher than his head? b) See he has plenty of fresh air? c) Loosen tight clothing? |
| a | b | c |
| 3. In cases of electric shock, which should you do first: a) Drag the victim clear? b) Turn off the appliance? c) Turn off the electricity at the power point or mains? |
| a | b | c |
| 4. If you see a small child with his head stuck between railings, should you: a) Grease his ears try to pull him out? b) Send for the Fire Brigade? c) Turn him upside down gently and try to ease his head through face first? |
| a | b | c |
| 5. For hiccups, should you give: a) Sips of water? b) A teaspoonful of dry, granulated sugar? c) A sudden shock? |
| a | b | c |
| 6. In cases of poisoning, should you: a) Always make the victim sick? b) Get him to drink a lot of water? c) Send him to hospital? |
| a | b | c |
TEXT F.
Study the following words and word combinations and be sure you know them:
rotten, weak, shivering, limbs feel sick, there’s no quick cure a bout of flu, pass on the infection, in poor health, soluble aspirin chest bronchitis,be vaccinated against flu, epidemics.
