Humanist Celebrants, visiting patients in hospital
Bill Rausch
June 23, 2013
My volunteer work at Washington Hospital doesn’t directly involve my humanist celebrancy. I had two angina attacks during the spring of 2011 which drove me to consult with a cardiologist. He performed an angioplasty, in which a catheter was inserted in an artery in my right arm and was threaded to the blockage and inflated to break up the fatty deposits. I stayed in the hospital overnight and was discharged the next afternoon. Subsequently I enrolled in the Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program using exercise machines under the supervision of a team of nurses and an exercise specialist.
My rate of recovery so impressed the head nurse that she invited me to become a Mended Hearts Visitor. As such, I visit patients who have had angioplasties shortly after they have had the procedure. I tell them that there IS life after the procedure. As an 81 year old man who patrols the trails of the East Bay Regional Parks District, I’m an example. Hospital rules for volunteers prohibit proselytizing for creeds or religions. I perform this duty to fulfill my service of humane ideals.
I’ve included public service in most of my adult life. Examples could be my 40 pint aphaeresis donations at the Stanford blood Bank and my passing messages via ham radio during the Loma Prieta earthquake. I only discovered humanism 4 years ago but I do regard my celebrancy as a continuing part of my overall service to my fellow humans.
Humanist Community Forum (2013-06-23): Humanist Celebrants, Visiting Patients in Hospital (Bill Rausch) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.