La radio del hospital (The hospital radio)
MCER B1230 palabras
The radio station of Saint Andrew's Hospital broadcasts to about four hundred beds and to nobody else. You cannot hear it in the street, or on the internet, and that is on purpose.
It runs from a room the size of a bathroom, next to the laundry. Eight volunteers take turns: two students, a retired taxi driver, a nurse who does the Sunday programme after her shift, and four people who were patients themselves.
The programmes are not what a music station would put on. There is a slot at half past nine at night where somebody simply reads the football results, slowly, twice. There is another one on Thursdays where a volunteer walks around the wards with a notebook and comes back with requests, names and messages, and reads them out.
Martin, who has run the station since 2011, says the hardest part is not the technical side. It is knowing what not to say. Nobody mentions how long anyone has been in, and nobody asks what they are in for.
The hospital has offered twice to put the station online. Martin has said no both times. His argument is simple: a patient who sends a message to the ward next door is talking to nine people, and knows exactly which nine. If the whole world could listen, he says, most of them would stop sending anything at all.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- to broadcastemitir
- wardplanta, sala del hospital
- slotespacio, franja de programación
- requestpetición, dedicatoria
- shiftturno
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
You can listen to the station from outside the hospital.
False — You cannot hear it in the street, or on the internet, and that is on purpose: es una decisión, no una limitación técnica.
The station is run by ___ volunteers.
eight — Eight volunteers take turns, y luego el texto los enumera.
What happens on Thursdays?
A volunteer collects messages in the wards and reads them out — Los resultados son a las nueve y media de la noche y el programa de la enfermera es el domingo; lo de los jueves es la ronda con el cuaderno.
According to Martin, what is the hardest part of the job?
Knowing what not to say — The hardest part is not the technical side. It is knowing what not to say: no se habla de cuánto lleva nadie ingresado ni de por qué.
Why does Martin refuse to put the station online?
Because people would stop sending messages if anyone could listen — If the whole world could listen, he says, most of them would stop sending anything at all. El dinero y la técnica no aparecen en su argumento.
Some of the volunteers were patients in that hospital.
True — …and four people who were patients themselves. Son la mitad de los ocho.