Cultural differences played a large part in reluctance by patients at Changhua County’s Yuan Sheng Hospital to wear the clothing that came with new hyperbaric chambers, hospital staff said.
Yuan Sheng, the first hospital in southern Changhua to introduce the machines, held a special news conference for their acquisition.
The pure oxygen and higher air pressure — 2.5 times greater than normal pressure — in the chambers reduce the time needed for wounds to heal, doctors said.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
However, when demonstrating the machines, the hospital used bright yellow gowns that were supplied by the manufacturer, which one reporter described as garish.
The reporter said that the gown was jarring and made him think of patients being “taken to the land of the Sukhavati.”
Asked whether any patients had refused to wear the gown, the doctors said a number of older patients strongly objected wearing it.
The patients would put the gown on, then try to take it off, but when asked why they did not want to wear it, they would not say, the doctors, apparently mystified, told reporters.
Reporters later told the doctors that the color was usually used in funeral parlors for the clothing of the deceased.
The hospital bought the machines from the US, where the color of a gown usually has less cultural significance, the doctors said, but added that they would follow local customs.
“We will obtain light blue or pink gowns, so that patients can feel more comfortable when wearing them during therapy,” the hospital said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS