DEL->BANG->HYD->DEL

 The end of October brings Halloween, the rain, less daylight, and my second trip to India. I few via Hong Kong to Delhi and was greeted with the bright sounds, sweat smells, and hurried commotion that is India. While at first I was unsettled by the apparent lack of organization, lines, and typical courtesies found in the United States, I quickly adapted again and found liberation in the flow of things. My first stop after arriving in India would be the cooler climates of Bangalore. This developing tech city, often called the 'silicone valley' of India was, and is still a popular retirement site for wealthy Indians. The price per square foot in the city for land rivals that of popular locations in the U.S. 

Our partners in India, GVK-EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) is an amazing organization. They are the largest call center and EMS agency in the world, literally serving millions of people every day, and answering each call on average on the first ring! We have partnered with them since 2006, and are now focusing mainly on physician training programs, trying to elevate the quality of emergency care in rural areas by traditionally non-emergency trained doctors. Our latest program is the Pediatric District Hospital Physicians Training program. We have been working on this for the past 3 months. 

 Our first run was at the Advanced Learning Center in Bangalore. This facility blew our expectations away! With multimedia conference rooms, cadaver labs, and high-fidelity simulation labs comparable to Stanford Medical School, we barely knew what to do without having to work between power outages and marginal equipment. The participants were eager to learn, diverse, and really enjoyed the program.

 We conducted hands-on workshops on advanced airway management, BLS, IV/IO access. The hands-on stations are by far the most popular. It is also astounding how much opportunity there is to teach everyone.... even senior consultants. This is also my favorite time because you get to interact with the participants one on one.

We have adapted our teaching style from pure lecture to 1/2 content small group workshops. This allows more questions and critical thinking.

 Bangalore itself is a well laid out city with lots of shopping malls and restaurants. I of course found the closest thing to an American coffee shop, Coffee Day. This bar, sky bar, is at the top of a shopping mall owned by the same man that owns King Fisher beer / airlines. It has all the comfort of home... and an amazing view.






We then flew to Hyderabad to the main EMRI campus and conducted the course again. This time we videotaped the lectures with all the speakers in front of a green screen. We then used video editing software to make layered videos for the participants, presenting all the slides with the speakers superimposed on them. This will eventually be the lecture format, with participants reviewing the lectures from home and then later coming to the campus for hands on training and small group sessions.

On return to Hyderabad, we revisited the Charminar. This historic monument is mostly visited by Muslim Indians. This popular bazaar is a constant commotion of humans, standing room only. Carts and shops sell hand-made clothing, handicrafts, bangals, jewelry, and just about anything you could want.  

 For some unknown reason, security was on high alert at the Charminar. The blue-clad army was fashioned with their machine guns and human beating sticks... fortunately looking bored.

 After leaving the comforts of our amazing hotel in Hyderabad, the Taj Deccan, we loaded up our van with tons of luggage, 6 people, and headed to the airport on time India style (30 minutes late)

I am now writing in Delhi, looking at the milk colored sky through my window. The air quality here is akin to a dirty fish tank. The humidity, pollution, and constant burning for cooking and heating make the air sour and thick. Tonight we kick off the EMCON conference in Delhi with a faculty dinner. Over the next 3 days I will be lecturing and moderating sessions for India's premier Emergency Medicine conference.