Nurses and patients relieved compulsively heroic army doctors gone

[Watser?]

JOHANNESBURG. As striking doctors return to hospitals around the country, nurses and patients have expressed relief that they will no longer have to deal with the army medics who stood in during the crisis. "They are incredibly brave," said one nurse, "but it's also a bit awkward because they are always screaming for 'more plasma!' and throwing themselves onto patients."

Nurses at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital said they had been impressed by the almost obsessive focus of the army medics, but added that medics were sometimes difficult to call as they only responded to screams and tended to ignore intercom announcements.

"They ignored us because we were not wounded," said Sister Sledge Mbete. "We would have to poke the patient with a needle to make them scream, 'Medic! Medic!'"

The hospital also confirmed that it had a problem with medics stealing and administering thousands of ampoules of morphine.

"That's all they ever gave us," recalled patient Cassius Mangope. "I came in with a ringworm on my foot. This young doctor ran up, sort of crouched over. He looked very tired and twitchy, and he held my face in his hands and said, 'Don't you f***ing die on me, you glorious son of a bitch', and I told him I was only there for my ringworm, and he burst into tears and then shot me up with about eight little bottles of morphine.

"It felt fantastic."

Hayibo

[Garnet]

[California Tanker]

That a sort of South African 'Onion'?

NTM