While the Minister of Health of the Libyan government appointed by Parliament, Othman Abdel Jalil, considered that the health situation in the city of Derna was heading “to recovery,” doctors who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat said: “The situation is calm; But it still portends a number of risks that cannot be ignored, which are not limited to epidemics and the possibility of contamination of drinking water. “But it also includes the traumas and psychological effects caused by the hurricane disaster in the city.”
Dr. Jalal Muftah Ahmad, one of the volunteer doctors from the military medical service in Tripoli, said: “We were racing against time to examine the largest number of wounded and injured in one day, but as soon as we receive a patient who lost his children and siblings, and he begins reciting their names while crying bitterly, we enter a state of silence. Sometimes we withdraw quietly so as not to burst into tears in front of him, then we return seconds later to support him psychologically.”
Ahmad explained, “He arrived in Derna on the second day of the disaster, where the medical cases he saw at that time varied between fractures and bruises as a result of many residents being injured while trying to escape from torrents and floods, colliding with solid objects, and suffocating as a result of staying in the water.” In this regard, he said: “Unfortunately, we were suffering at this time due to the lack of sterilization devices, oxygen for artificial respiration, and various types of radiology equipment to diagnose fractures and strokes. All of this made us feel very helpless during our attempts to help the citizens, especially with the small number of doctors and nurses.”
Part of the work of Derna doctors (Jalal Muftah Ahmad)
Muftah Ahmid added, explaining: “Since the third day of the disaster, the number of doctors who came to help from inside and outside Libya has increased, and support with medicines was provided by many parties, and the Ministry of Health in Tripoli quickly sent x-ray machines,” pointing out that “his work and his colleagues are from The volunteer doctors did not stop throughout the day. We lived in rooms equipped with simple furnishings in the same hospitals in which we worked, and our day began receiving sick cases at eight in the morning. In addition to diagnosing, providing treatment, and performing surgeries, we helped the employees and workers unload the trucks that came to us. Loaded with food and medicine and arranging them in stores. He added: “Rather, we were cleaning up some hospitals that were damaged by the disaster, in addition to helping to recover bodies and distributing meals prepared by relief committees near the city.”
Muftah Ahmad, a specialist in urology, warned of the seriousness of cases of intestinal infections and skin rashes, suggesting that “there is likely to be contamination in drinking water that may have been affected by the decomposition of the bodies of victims of the disaster.” He also warned of “the psychological traumas that the people of Derna were exposed to as a result of the disappearance of a large number of their relatives.” Whether children, siblings, parents and neighbors overnight.”
Doctors in warehouses (Jalal Muftah Ahmad)
In turn, Dr. Ali Turki, a doctor at the National Center for Disease Control, confirmed that he and his team, who were present in Derna several days ago, took “samples of water and swamps in both Derna and Sousse for analysis after the increase in cases of diarrhea and skin rashes.” Turki, who specializes in chest diseases, said that “the smell of corpses that dominates the affected part of the city has become dangerous for respiratory patients, and in recent days everyone has begun to monitor that these people have been greatly affected,” noting that he and his team “have actually begun vaccinating all those present in the city, including workers, Rescue teams and army personnel; To prevent them from contracting serious diseases, while air pollution continues. They also distributed leaflets in mosques, schools, and homes to educate people not to drink water from wells or any other source, and to resort to canned bottles.
Turki stressed that the real fear when floods occur is “the spread of cholera; Due to water pollution, the presence of swamps, or the outbreak of diseases transmitted from insects and animals to humans.”
Turki and his team also contributed to treating many sick and wounded cases in light of their high numbers in the first days. He said in this regard: “In the city of Sousse, which we went to in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, we visited homes to examine the citizens and provide them with medicines. “Because most of them were exposed to psychological shock as a result of the damage to their homes,” he added, “We did this despite the hardship of our daily journey at that time from Al-Bayda to Sousse.”
Derna doctors (Jalal Muftah Ahmad)
The situation is not much different in the narration of Dr. Mona Hamza, a pediatrician from Derna, who volunteered at a public hospital after the disaster. Her work extends from the beginning of the day until eleven in the evening, during which she sees approximately 70 medical cases daily during her travel between the general hospital, Clinics were opened to care for children in a number of regions, in addition to visits to some cases in homes.
Despite her acknowledgment of the opening of more than one field hospital for children, maternity, and surgery in more than one Badrna region, and the contribution of all private sector clinics by opening their doors free of charge to patients, Hamza still describes the situation in her city as “difficult and painful.” She attributed this to “the lack of some medications, such as antibiotics and vitamins for children, in addition to the lack of respirators for newborns.” This prompts them to be transferred outside the city, and the time factor may be against the child, which makes the doctor feel helpless.”
Here, Hamza pointed out that the recent cases “are limited to skin rashes and intestinal infections, while colds resulting from exposure to water and wounds were the highest in the first days,” stressing that “the efforts of charitable people and relief that were provided from all parts of Libya and outside it contributed to reducing the amount of suffering.” ».
2023-09-20 17:51:14
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