Our only expense was 20 minutes and Rs.0, says couple praising Kerala government

A face book post from a business man from Bangalore praised the good treatment that his son received from the state governments hospitals. The businessman, Balaji Viswanath and his family had come to Kerala to spend their holiday here. He is the CEO of Invento Robotics. His note was as below:-

Couple of weeks ago when I was holidaying in Kerala, I happened to experience their public healthcare and was amazed at it.

As part of the holiday we stayed at the Alappuzha beach resort. The next day morning my son faced a small accident. We got scared and rushed him to the nearest government hospital [it was my first visit to a government hospital in my living memory].

In 30 seconds, the reception processed the entry [without the need for any ID]. In another 30 seconds, a doctor in the ER examined my son and understood that it was not life threatening. In another 2 minutes, the blood was contained and first aid was done. In another 5 minutes a duty doctor made the first assessment and asked for an X-Ray.

It was early hours and I had to wake up the technician and in another 2 minutes the X-Ray was done. The doctor gave the second assessment confirming no fracture and asked me to consult the Ortho.

We came home, had food, and then went back to the hospital to consult the Ortho. We waited for about 5 min [a long queue was there] and then the Ortho did her assessment. In the next 5 minutes another duty doctor came in and had the bandage replaced and a prescription given. Amazingly our holiday continued without any delay.

These women [mostly] were like female MARCOS Special Forces — thoroughly professional and efficient. And the society collectively deserves praise for its support.

My only expense was 20 minutes and Rs.0. I didn’t need connections, influence, money or even the knowledge of the local language. I have never seen any system [of healthcare or otherwise] in any part of the world that was this efficient.

India has not fallen victim to any major global epidemic in over a century and for this we have to thank our strong force of men and women. Smallpox, Plague, Polio, HIV have all been fought back with ruthless efficiency and bravery. Corona bro, I feel sorry for you man.