Here is a little story about how life is lived in Bulgaria. Last night, about 11 pm, my wife (who is Bulgarian), slipped on some wet tiles in the kitchen and broke her right leg and ankle.. amongst other things, I'm a qualified paramedic, so the diagnosis was fairly easy. Ambulance was called and arrived within ten minutes or so..with a nurse and a driver..nurse was top notch..driver stated that he only drove and if I wanted my wife transporting to the hospital then it was my task to get her down from the fifth floor and into the ambulance..the nurse provided an air splint which I applied to my wife's leg..but it deflated in around four minutes!!! Arrived (eventually) at the hospital and the doctor on duty sent her off for an X-ray..he looked at the prints for a moment or two, made a decision, ordered a cast to be applied and twenty minutes later we were in a taxi..going home! No pain relief or comfort applied or offered at any time during this rather upsetting time. I brought her home about one hour and fifty minutes after the fall, complete with a hip to toe plaster cast! I can tell you all that this has been a serious learning curve for me...not to mention my poor wife!!!

Oh dear, I hope your wife is feeling better soon. I hate to think of her going through all that without some sort of pain relief. Please give her our best wishes and tell her we are hoping for a swift recovery.

I can't believe you had to get your wife down to the ambulance yourself. As you say it must have been an eye opener to someone who is a paramedic over here. The only upside of the whle sorry affair seems to be at least she wasn't left on a trolley in a corridor for twelve hours before being seen!!!!!

Get well soon Mrs bgbazz.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mrs Eq

Sounds pretty grim, but at least your wife was seen straight away. Hope she makes a speedy recovery.

bgbazz wrote:

Here is a little story about how life is lived in Bulgaria. Last night, about 11 pm, my wife (who is Bulgarian), slipped on some wet tiles in the kitchen and broke her right leg and ankle.. amongst other things, I'm a qualified paramedic, so the diagnosis was fairly easy. Ambulance was called and arrived within ten minutes or so..with a nurse and a driver..nurse was top notch..driver stated that he only drove and if I wanted my wife transporting to the hospital then it was my task to get her down from the fifth floor and into the ambulance..the nurse provided an air splint which I applied to my wife's leg..but it deflated in around four minutes!!! Arrived (eventually) at the hospital and the doctor on duty sent her off for an X-ray..he looked at the prints for a moment or two, made a decision, ordered a cast to be applied and twenty minutes later we were in a taxi..going home! No pain relief or comfort applied or offered at any time during this rather upsetting time. I brought her home about one hour and fifty minutes after the fall, complete with a hip to toe plaster cast! I can tell you all that this has been a serious learning curve for me...not to mention my poor wife!!!

Sorry to hear of your wife's trauma. My experience of the BG medical service has been good, from arriving at a hospital in Pavlikeni and back in the car after having a tick extracted 10 minutes and a jab to keep me safe from any more ticks. Today, I went to a doctor in the same town and had blood pressure taken and an ECG done and back out in under an hour, all for 2.90 Leva. I dread to think how long the NHS would have taken for any of it!!

Sorry to hear about your wifes unforntunate accident and hope she mends quickly.I lived in Hong Kong and they were pretty much the same there as they were under funded in the hospitals back in the 80's and couldn't afford to train thier ambulance crews, very basic!

I really hope your wife will be better soon Bgbzz. An awful experience. You can read somewhere on this forum about my Hero's almost fatal emergency back last winter. The doctors were amazing and got him back on his feet in 10days although I had to find our own blood donors. However, as you have found, the ambulance driver left a lot to be desired and when asked to slow down in order to get a drip into an almost non-existent vein, he nearly turned us all over in temper. No heating either. Palliative care is also non- existent and once patched up sent home with speed. Pain killing of any description has to be asked for even in the dentist. The Bulgarians are a hardy lot and put up with this prehistoric treatment so it is something to be considered before moving here.

oldun wrote:

I really hope your wife will be better soon Bgbzz. An awful experience. You can read somewhere on this forum about my Hero's almost fatal emergency back last winter. The doctors were amazing and got him back on his feet in 10days although I had to find our own blood donors. However, as you have found, the ambulance driver left a lot to be desired and when asked to slow down in order to get a drip into an almost non-existent vein, he nearly turned us all over in temper. No heating either. Palliative care is also non- existent and once patched up sent home with speed. Pain killing of any description has to be asked for even in the dentist. The Bulgarians are a hardy lot and put up with this prehistoric treatment so it is something to be considered before moving here.

so it is something to be considered before moving here.
Yes, but I think it is OK if you are prepared to take the rough with the smooth ::

Yes Willowsend but you know as well as I do that many overlook the warnings. It suits us and the priority is always to be made better and sent home but so many criticise the NHS that when faced with the alternative they don't like it and start complaining. It was fine for me and for my Hero but he is easy to please and just wanted to be home. Priority is to be made well and not to expect first class accommodation and to feel nothing. No-one likes being in hospital anywhere do they?I really have no time for people who come to Bulgaria expecting to escape everything that is wrong with Britain when in fact, there is plenty wrong in Bulgaria - its just different. Remember the song from 'Life of Brian..' 'Always look on the bright side of life'..
It was good of Bgbazz to highlight one of the differences though. Hope his wife is mending fast.

Hope ur wife is feeling better soon. Could have been worse they could have put her on a stretcher. My daughter hurt her spine in an accident at ballet, four floors up, very steep steps and the good old ambulance men put her on a strectcher to carry her down. they forgot to tye her on and half way down the first flight she slid off, knocking over the ambulanceman in the process. both tumbled down the rest off the stairs n had to be taken to casulty. we then had a 3hr wait to be seen by a doctor. got to love the nhs.

On the first hand, we both thank all of you for the kind words and well wishes..on the other hand, I just want to say that I didn't post the story to be read as any sort of complaint. Recently posters have been asking about life in this country and I thought that our little tale might help fill the picture a bit for them.

Mrs BG is coping well (thanks to my housekeeping skills) and the bgbazz household seems to be almost normal again.

Once again, thank you all for the warm and fuzzy thoughts.

bgbazz wrote:

On the first hand, we both thank all of you for the kind words and well wishes..on the other hand, I just want to say that I didn't post the story to be read as any sort of complaint. Recently posters have been asking about life in this country and I thought that our little tale might help fill the picture a bit for them.

Mrs BG is coping well (thanks to my housekeeping skills) and the bgbazz household seems to be almost normal again.

Once again, thank you all for the warm and fuzzy thoughts.

It is good that you shared your experiences and thoughts on the forum :Thank you:after all the forum is for the good, the bad and the ugly
It's good news that Mrs Bgbazz is doing well and that you are maintaining your housekeeping skills, you must remember that behind every good woman is an even better man

Now now willowsend [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] We all know that it's a woman that makes a mans life so good.

Sorry to hear about your wifes issue I know it can be hard but I hope she makes a speedy recovery

Hope your wife is feeling better today.

Once again, thanks to you all..my wife is quite comfy now the swelling has subsided somewhat. Frustration at her loss of mobility is the main issue now.