Medical Care in Vienna

Today we completed the medical office orientation. Every Embassy has a medical unit staffed with either a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse and psychiatrist or any combination of these professionals. At our post, there is a doctor, NP, two RN's and a regional psychiatrist that covers several other posts in addition to Vienna.

The Austrian version of 911 is 144 (ambulance) 122 (fire department) and 133 (police). It is not an all in one number. Further our telephone numbers are unlisted so we were taught that if we call in an emergency to any of these numbers, our number will not show up on caller id. Therefore, when personnel answer the phone, the first thing they will ask is for your address. Ambulance teams include a doctor and a paramedic and depending on your emergency, they will stabilize you and take you to the nearest hospital with available beds. Therefore, you don't get to choose which hospital you go to.

We were given these pink cards in English and German and were told that should we end up at the hospital over a weekend, we are to present those cards to the registration people who are instructed to coordinate through the Embassy for care and payment. Unlike our hospital tour in Poland, there is no organized tour of hospitals here because when they tried to organize one, they had very poor attendance. I remember our Warsaw tour and the van was full.

The nearest hospital to us is Allgemeines Krankenhaus (hospital). I love the names for some of the places here. I guess hospitalized people are "cranky". Within this hospital, there are departments just like in the States. The website offers some information in English.  I was quite pleased to learn that the neuro ophthalmologist Thing 1 was referred to for treatment of his intracranial hypertension is fluent in English and has a neuro ophthalmology (neuroophthalmologische) clinic Monday through Friday from 8am-3pm.  The hospital is a university hospital which mean a teaching/research hospital.  I like this only because teaching/research hospitals usually are involved in cutting edge research and are up to date on the latest technologies and procedures. The neuro-ophthalmologist we were referred to is part of the hospital's attending staff and a professor at the Medical University of Vienna. The reason I know all this without having stepped foot into the doctor's office is that their website is in English and German. Two blocks from the main hospital is the Sankt Anna Kinderspital which is part of the main hospital. Their website is in German, but thanks to Google Translate I can have the entire thing translated into English. 

In addition to his need for a neuro-ophthalmologist, Thing 1 needs to start orthodontic treatment ASAP.  For this, we were referred to an orthodontist who is fluent in English and even has an English version of her website. The booklet provided by the medical office also listed specialists from cardiologists to veterinarians with a notation of their fluency in English.  The majority of these physicians trained either in the US or UK so about 80% are fluent or native English speakers. 

Before leaving the States, we had to obtain medical clearances.  Thing 1's condition had been diagnosed 2 months prior and we were put through the wringer to obtain clearances.  They expressed concern about treatment not being available and being subpar.  They questioned what we would do if he needed medivac.  Meanwhile, our neuro-ophthalmologist in the States did not understand the hoopla over this and had to send multiple letters to these people stating that he just needs monitoring.  Well, that medical clearance team was, how should I put it....full of shit! We were told today that they actually medivac people from other posts in Africa/Asia because the medical care is excellent. 

We received our first of three tick borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccines today.  Because of our proximity to the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods) and since we have a dog, it was recommended. We were also given flouride tablets to use sparingly with the kids because the water (which is potable and tastes great compared to the Polish tap water and Orlando, Florida water, per Thing 1) does not contain flouride. 

We were encouraged to visit the hospital just to become familiar with it just in case, which I plan to do when I feel the need for Starbucks - one is located within the hospital:-) Needless to say, I hope we never need to use the facility.