Contents
Lifestyle Too
Medical Experiences
In the following piece you will read about Bob and Ev’s recent experiences with the
local healthcare system. Here at the Bugle we wish Ev a speedy recovery:
“Once again, we have learnt some interesting aspects of the medical system. Ev fell and broke her leg (tibia) in the bathroom. When I rang 166 for the ambulance, the call was dealt with by the central control in Athens, and the guy who answered did not speak English nor could he understand my pigeon Greek. I had to get my Greek neighbour to ring him and explain the situation. The ambulance crews, however, all seem to speak enough English and some German, and the paramedics were wonderful. As we had arrived by ambulance at Rethymnon General, the Accident and Emergency dept saw her very quickly, and the x-ray revealed the damage, so she was admitted to the surgical first floor.
The room had three beds, all without curtains. As the other two were unoccupied over the weekend, it was quite acceptable for me to sleep next to Ev. Why was this necessary? Firstly, the emergency help switch was behind her head and there was no cord to her bed, and secondly, the nurses only carry out medical care. This means that they will take temperatures, and give out pills and injections, but relatives are expected to: Feed the patient, wash the patient, assist with a bedpan and keep the patient free of bedsores.
We were most fortunate to find an English trained ex-nurse who we paid to look after Ev for the first few post - op nights (the carers on offer from the hospital often speak no English and may not have the appropriate medical training). The operation was carried out by a first class team, equal to anywhere in Northern Europe. However it was a bit of a shock when Ev was placed on the operating table. A porter took off her paper gown, and she lay there quite naked. Guess the medical staff had seen it all before!! They did a superb job inserting a metal plate and six bolts. The Kilikeio [ hospital shop/ canteen] is open from 6.30 am right through to 11 pm, and is both cheap and well stocked. A great filter coffee only costs 1.50 euros. It was a surprise that the surgical team did not recommend any physiotherapy once Ev came home. Again luckily, she already was being treated by a super physio, who said that tragically, this was normal. The local Rethymno branch of the Greek Red Cross very kindly loaned us a wheelchair, just donated by the president, for which we gave them a contribution. Finally, we must make it clear that we are very grateful to the Greek doctors, for excellent treatment, but hope that others may find our experiences of the pitfalls in the system helpful.”
Eco Corner: The Car Scrappage Scheme has been….Scrapped!
Maybe it’s not such a bad thing that we are ‘not exactly ahead of schedule’ with our monthly deadline for our November issue (clutching at straws here?). Just as we are about to go to press (note the use of the present tense, editor is typing frantically right now) we receive the information that the new government has decided to scrap the EU car scrappage scheme with immediate effect. However, just to reassure some of you out there, people who have already started the scrapping process (if you see what we mean) will still be entitled to complete it.
The government’s rationale is that the scheme’s main aim is to boost domestic car manufacturing industries in those countries that have them and the environmental benefits are a nice bonus. Greece doesn’t have a domestic car manufacturing industry…. As an ‘eco sweetener’, though, government road tax charges are likely to change in the near future apparently to reflect an environmental slant in policy. Tax for new cars with small engines may go down, and tax for older cars with larger engines is likely to go up. We’ll let you know what we know when we know more.
Where Can I Recycle Waste Items?
Apart from using the blue and yellow recycling bins for household waste other items can be recycled as follows:
Disposal of broken electrical goods. There is a depot just outside town which will take anything ‘that had a plug on it’ (including washing machines and fridges). Drivers, take the National Road towards Heraklion in Misiria. Turn off the highway after about 100—150 metres, hang a right and you should soon see recycling bins etc. The depot is open from 6am to 3pm on weekdays, and from 6am to 12 noon at weekends. For further information call 28310 57940. For large objects that need collection call 195 from any phone.
Old telephones and small telecoms items. There is a green bin in the entrance of the main OTE office..
Batteries. various places in town including OTE, DEI, Germanos, Marinopoulos and Champion.
Old cars. DRAKOS on the left hand side of the National Road a short way out of Rethymnon (going towards Hania). They even pay you as they recycle the spares and give you a paper for tax purposes!
