Scenario F: Field Visits in Rural Areas |
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A physician and an assistant periodically visit a remote village, where several
families of altogether about 100 people live. The
area has not been electrified, and health conditions are poor. The physician
brings along a 5-year-old, battery powered laptop computer, donated by an aid
agency. The computer's hardware is vintage 1994: an Intel 486 processor, 8
Mbyte RAM, and a 586 Mbyte hard drive. The computer's battery can be
recharged using as the team's vehicle runs. It can operate the computer for
at most 2 hours before recharging.
After the team arrives in the village, they begin examining patients. The
first patient, an infant, was born since the team last visited. The
physician performs a routine examination, during which the assistant first
creates a new record for the child, and then records the physician's
observations of the child's vital signs (weight, length, sex, date of birth, pulse
rate, etc.).
During the same visit, the physician also examines the child's mother. She has been
seen previously by the team, and her medical record is retrieved from the system's
database. The assistant records the mother's observations about the birth. She
is suffering from mastitis, and the physician prescribes several medications as treatment.
The assistant records
the illness, and the medications left with the mother. Her database record is
updated.