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The most difficult thing/about our work at Madhu/was making decisions. We had to think about the local situation,/because looking at the situation/through Western or Japanese eyes/could lead us to make wrong decisions. Since our medicine/as well as our medical equipment/was very limited,/we had to look at each situation/as it happened/and choose the best thing to do.
I clearly remember the day/when a woman brought her five-year-old boy/to our hospital. I saw immediately/that he was beyond help. We gave him oxygen,/but he was pale,/his breathing was difficult,/and the oxygen mask made him uncomfortable. He was not improving. We were using our last tank of oxygen. We didn’t know/when the next tank was coming. If another person needing oxygen arrived,/maybe this tank could save his or her life. I made my decision/and made a sign to the nurse/who was working with me/to turn off the oxygen. The nurse simply couldn’t do it. I waited five seconds/and then turned it off myself. I did it/because I thought it best/to leave the child in the hands of God. Was that the right decision? I still don’t know.
The most difficult thing/about our work at Madhu/was making decisions. We had to think about the local situation,/because looking at the situation/through Western or Japanese eyes/could lead us to make wrong decisions. Since our medicine/as well as our medical equipment/was very limited,/we had to look at each situation/as it happened/and choose the best thing to do.
I clearly remember the day/when a woman brought her five-year-old boy/to our hospital. I saw immediately/that he was beyond help. We gave him oxygen,/but he was pale,/his breathing was difficult,/and the oxygen mask made him uncomfortable. He was not improving. We were using our last tank of oxygen. We didn’t know/when the next tank was coming. If another person needing oxygen arrived,/maybe this tank could save his or her life. I made my decision/and made a sign to the nurse/who was working with me/to turn off the oxygen. The nurse simply couldn’t do it. I waited five seconds/and then turned it off myself. I did it/because I thought it best/to leave the child in the hands of God. Was that the right decision? I still don’t know.