hello,

 

Wondering if for aging people, it is safer to live next door to an hospital, and why people do not think about these things ?

 

In which case (heart attack, stroke, etc...) is it important to arrived quickly at hospital ?

 

and does it make a big difference with arriving at hospital 30 mns after the "accident" ?

 

what do you think about it please ?

Possibly as there are more germs in the vicinity people choose to live further away.

also

Higher crime rates as you have more people hanging around waiting for visiting hours, and in the meantime sizing up your property

 

I think I will continue to live a short drive away myself

I think it makes perfect sense to live near a hospital if you can and you anticipate emergencies. A doctor friend told me of the "golden hour" in case of accidents beyond which damage can become irrecoverable. Stands to reason in case of any medical emergency the quicker to treatment the better.

Having suffered a major stroke, falling on the bathroom floor, in and out of consciousness, not being able to move and not found for more than two days, the distance from my house to the hospital was in this case not relevant.    However when I was found the ambulance arrived in about 10 minutes being only 3km away.     The local hospital gave life saving interim treatment before being moved to Khon Kaen.

 

Yes the distance matters but so do other things especially if you live alone.    The following are not in order of preference:-

 

Have someone try to contact you daily and if they get no reply by the second day find out why you haven't responded.      This is especially important if that local person is some distance away at the time.     Try to provide an alternative local contact.

 

I wrote a DNR some 30 years ago ( now in my 70's ) and it is posted in my house in clear view, along with other important updated medical documents ( which includes list of drug allergies, e.g antibiotics ).   These documents are already in my hospital files both where Ilive and in Khon Kaen.   I also always carry these documents, including local hospital card with me whenever I go out.    When admitted to the local hospital following my stroke the hospital honoured my DNR request and once in a period of consciousness asked if it was still my request.    Hat's off too for the hospital taking note of my numerous drug allergies.

 

Carry contact details of others, local and family with you.

 

Ensure your will is up to date and easily found.

 

It's never too early to do all these things but it can be too late ...

Good advice about having someone contact you daily if you live alone.  I would suggest, that your friend acts immediately, not wait a second day.  We were the "buddy" for a lady who lived alone and when she didn't send her usual "good morning" email, Hubby went to her apartment to find she'd had a stroke during the night. and got her to the hospital ASAP.

 

We live a few hundred yards from a good hospital and it's come in handy because Hubby has seasonal cluster headaches.  They're like migranes, but worse.  The golden treatment for them is to breathe pure oxygen for about 15 - 20 minutes.  They come on several times a week, always in the afternoon, in November and December for him.  He simply stays close to home during the cluster headache season and when he feels one coming on, he walks to the hospital where the E/R nurses, know him well and hook him up to the oxygen right away.  Fortunately, his right eye starts to tear about ten minutes before a headache, so often he gets to the hospital just as a headache is starting. 

 

Without the oxygen, he'd be in agony for several hours.  The pain is so bad, that people have been known to kill themselves during a cluster headache or be killed or tased by police because they want to walk around and keep moving during an attack, i.e. not follow orders to be still or lay on the ground.

For those living alone, I think it is imperative to live in proximity of health care. As a geezer, the odds are in favor that something will happen where you will need medical care. Even if you are a healthy, functional geezer, time has a way of intruding. How lucky are those who go quickly and who have had no major illnesses that accompany them for years before the final reckoning. As a resident of BKK, hospitals are everywhere, and good ones at that. 

why not take care of your body & mind

 

so you DON'T NEED a hospital, except a CAR accident, a fall, a mugging, stabbing...

2 hours ago, NancyL said:

Good advice about having someone contact you daily if you live alone.  I would suggest, that your friend acts immediately, not wait a second day.  We were the "buddy" for a lady who lived alone and when she didn't send her usual "good morning" email, Hubby went to her apartment to find she'd had a stroke during the night. and got her to the hospital ASAP.

 

We live a few hundred yards from a good hospital and it's come in handy because Hubby has seasonal cluster headaches.  They're like migranes, but worse.  The golden treatment for them is to breathe pure oxygen for about 15 - 20 minutes.  They come on several times a week, always in the afternoon, in November and December for him.  He simply stays close to home during the cluster headache season and when he feels one coming on, he walks to the hospital where the E/R nurses, know him well and hook him up to the oxygen right away.  Fortunately, his right eye starts to tear about ten minutes before a headache, so often he gets to the hospital just as a headache is starting. 

 

Without the oxygen, he'd be in agony for several hours.  The pain is so bad, that people have been known to kill themselves during a cluster headache or be killed or tased by police because they want to walk around and keep moving during an attack, i.e. not follow orders to be still or lay on the ground.

Hi NancyL, is there any reason why you don't have your own tank of oxygen in the house for these headache emergencies? Some time back I needed to have oxygen available for some breathing problems I was experiencing and a local pharmacy provided everything I needed, including refills.

I'm not so sure.  Do you know how many people die in hospitals? Frightening numbers.

 

Seriously though, some good advice above.

I don't think "near" is what matters, general area is better.  You probably don't want to live in a rural area with like 20 KM from the nearest hospital.

In the US  there are many 911 devices that you hang around your neck.  Should you not be able to get to a phone they could be a life saver.

 

Some good advice here. 

Thank you all.

14 hours ago, scoupeo said:

what do you think about it please ?

A choice of something someone old to make a decision on if their bothered about it.

I think it depends upon the disease. With heart attacks usually if you are still alive after 24 hours you will recover and live.

 

I'm not entirely happy with hospitals from the germ point of view...nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections can often be with resistant organisms, so I tend to resist going to the hospital for anything, especially minor stuff...or stuff they can do little about. A lot of this stuff like dengue fever, they get you into the hospital bed and won't let you out for days, even when there is no treatment for it. It simply winds up the bill......you may as well be lying in your own bed at home taking paracetamol or whatever it is they charge you an arm and a leg for. Same with heart attack, they often keep you in to wind up the bill way after the period you are likely to die (ie 1st 24 hours).

 

I'm not sure Thai hospitals are worse than in many other countries but I had a friend here who was told he needed major, major surgery. He went back home and was told he didn't have cancer and didn't need his bowel removed. I would not have any expensive or major surgery here without having 2 or 3 opinions, with at least one from a top hospital like Bumrumgrad.

It depends also very much on the hospital...

Government facility in a small town in Isaan or a private, well equipped hospital in a bigger city.

Make a HUGE difference

I can smell here the same bunch of old men who think that its safe to drive a motorbike in Thailand for aging people...

Really guys, nobody deserves to die, but it seems that many of you are looking into it more than usual !

Living far from an hospital when being old is so stupid that i cannot even comment...

 

 

Everybody has to make his own priorities but a very important factor in choosing the location of my actual residence is the fact that I am at 10 to 15 minutes drive from Thammasat Hospital in Pathum Thani without risk for traffic jams in case of an emergency.

It is really distressing to see how ambulances have to "fight" their way to the city center on the both express ways going coming from the North.

7 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

I think it depends upon the disease. With heart attacks usually if you are still alive after 24 hours you will recover and live.

 

I'm not entirely happy with hospitals from the germ point of view...nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections can often be with resistant organisms, so I tend to resist going to the hospital for anything, especially minor stuff...or stuff they can do little about. A lot of this stuff like dengue fever, they get you into the hospital bed and won't let you out for days, even when there is no treatment for it. It simply winds up the bill......you may as well be lying in your own bed at home taking paracetamol or whatever it is they charge you an arm and a leg for. Same with heart attack, they often keep you in to wind up the bill way after the period you are likely to die (ie 1st 24 hours).

 

I'm not sure Thai hospitals are worse than in many other countries but I had a friend here who was told he needed major, major surgery. He went back home and was told he didn't have cancer and didn't need his bowel removed. I would not have any expensive or major surgery here without having 2 or 3 opinions, with at least one from a top hospital like Bumrumgrad.

I heard the extract from papaya leaves will help get you over it quicker for Dengue 

22 hours ago, scoupeo said:

Wondering if for aging people, it is safer to live next door to an hospital, and why people do not think about these things ?

Now you come to mention it, I suppose ogling nurses in uniform on a daily basis could prove beneficial to life expectancy.  

I suppose it depends on where you live.

 

With heavy traffic (Bangkok, large city, town, village, in a rural area, etc.) or bad weather (flooding), how long would it take an ambulance to get to your home and back to the hospital?

 

How reliable is the local ambulance service?

 

Is the local hospital fully equipped to deal with a major medical emergency - heart attack, stroke, blood clot, etc. - or would they local hospital have to transfer you to a larger hospital?

Moved to the Health Forum.

"In which case (heart attack, stroke, etc...) is it important to arrived quickly at hospital ?"

 

heart attack (very common in old men, Pedro's post is wrong - BTW he is giving dangerous advice about dengue too) - your heart (not only your life) may be completely saved if you are in a cath lab within an hour or so

 

stroke (very common in old people) "time is brain"

 

GI bleeding (common in alcoholics, so it cannot happen to TVF members)

 

accidents with bleeding,  cerebral trauma or open fractures - all common with motorcycle accidents

 

these are just some common example, there are many more

 

 

26 minutes ago, uhuh said:

"In which case (heart attack, stroke, etc...) is it important to arrived quickly at hospital ?"

 

heart attack (very common in old men, Pedro's post is wrong - BTW he is giving dangerous advice about dengue too) - your heart (not only your life) may be completely saved if you are in a cath lab within an hour or so

 

stroke (very common in old people) "time is brain"

 

GI bleeding (common in alcoholics, so it cannot happen to TVF members)

 

accidents with bleeding,  cerebral trauma or open fractures - all common with motorcycle accidents

 

these are just some common example, there are many more

 

 

 

so why it doesn't seem important for all these old men to live near a hospital ?

same reason why they cannot understand how stupid they are to ride motorbikes when they can barely walk ?

 

 

Thailand is no place for old men. OP sounds like he can cover an emergency but most can't and are hoping to die in their sleep 

I discovered a mate 78 years old unable to move covered in pee and siht , Hospital drained his card of 900k without diagnosis and ended up broke.

On 6/12/2020 at 4:31 PM, Bender Rodriguez said:

why not take care of your body & mind

 

so you DON'T NEED a hospital, except a CAR accident, a fall, a mugging, stabbing...

To an extent you can or maybe can if you include the possible high stress from work, i.e. burnouts.

I am a vegan ( 40+ years ) and do daily simple yoga floor exercises, both cane in useful after the stroke.

I had kidney failure, almost total muscle loss and was unable to walk for 3 months following the stroke, these and other aspects were self treated ( with the aid of a friend ) and dialysis was not needed neither meds.

I accept that neither my mind or body is foolproof and if needed would not refuse hospital should it be required.     Sometimes this can help put others at ease.

it really is common sense  to live near hospital     also near one that has senior care avail   heart 

On 6/12/2020 at 4:35 PM, Dap said:

Hi NancyL, is there any reason why you don't have your own tank of oxygen in the house for these headache emergencies? Some time back I needed to have oxygen available for some breathing problems I was experiencing and a local pharmacy provided everything I needed, including refills.

We looked into this, but amazingly CM Ram charges just 50 baht for Hubby to come in to breathe oxygen (using a facemask and tubing he bought from them), while attractive, concerned nurses check on him from time-to-time.  Some years he doesn't even have cluster headaches and some years he does and when he does they last for 8 - 10 weeks and not every day. 

 

It didn't really make financial sense to invest in an oxygen tank for him, especially considering he walks through Kad Suan Kaew mall to get to CM Ram hospital, so he can handle a few errands on his way home since he's at KSK almost every day anyway.

 

He gets a 10 - 15 minute warning that a headache is coming because his right eye tears and the headaches always come in the mid-afternoon, when he's usually at home.  That's enough time to walk to the hospital.

There was a "Hello Ladies" episode where one guys wife just moved out, he got worried about dying alone so kicked off daily "all good" texts until i think they got bored of doing it, anyway a good idea if at risk.

 

On the subject of TIAs\Mini strokes i do wonder here if you thought you were having one, went straight to A&E, would they treat it as an emergency and give you a clotbuster if necessary? or would they just give you an aspirin and say go home

Clot busting meds are not ondicated for TIA

 

 

For thrombotic stroke, provided you attend a facility able to diagnose and treat it (i.e. a regional or teaching hospital, or large orivate hospital) it will be given if indicated.

On 6/12/2020 at 10:58 PM, gamesgplayemail said:

I can smell here the same bunch of old men who think that its safe to drive a motorbike in Thailand for aging people...

Really guys, nobody deserves to die, but it seems that many of you are looking into it more than usual !

Living far from an hospital when being old is so stupid that i cannot even comment...

 

 

You waiting for someone to die.

29 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Clot busting meds are not ondicated for TIA

 

 

For thrombotic stroke, provided you attend a facility able to diagnose and treat it (i.e. a regional or teaching hospital, or large orivate hospital) it will be given if indicated.

So in Pattaya, which hospitals could do this? and which probably couldn't?