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Dungannon Doctor provides aid in flood-ravaged Pakistan to bridge Ministry of health staff gap.

A Dungannon doctor, who has spent three weeks helping with the relief efforts following the Pakistan floods, is appealing for the public's help.

Dr Mark Campbell (37) an anaesthetist, was originally located in the Lower Dir region to cover a staffing gap at the local Ministry of Health hospital in Timurgaga as part of his first mission with the medical organisation Medicins Sans Fronteires, also known as Doctors Without Borders.

He was just in the country for five days when the monsoon rains set in, causing the riverbanks to burst. Thousands of homes were swept away leaving millions without shelter.

Dr Campbell explained the severity of the situation meant that staff feared they would run out of basic medical supplies.

"At one point, I was on my last vial of anaesthesia. We were really worried we would run out of essential drugs and materials.

"We managed in the end but it was close," explained Dr Campbell.

"The mobile clinics were going out almost every day. We also have a cholera treatment centre on stand-by, but so far we haven't seen any cases."

"The main impact for us was on communications; the floods knocked out everything. The mobiles didn't work and the supposedly indestructible satellite phones were just about as useful as a chocolate teapot and even when we succeeded in getting mobile coverage, the network quickly became swamped, which meant that this was not always a reliable form of contact either.

"We had enough staff for the hospital because they stayed on call, but it was very difficult to reach people urgently with communications down.

"We had flood-related trauma cases coming in; people who had been injured in landslides or falling walls and we couldn't get hold of nurses for the operating theatre. It was chaotic," he added.

Dr Campbell has appealed to the general public for donations to Medicins Sans Fronteires.

"The hospital is basic at the best of times, even the smallest hospital I've worked in Ireland can't compare to it.

"There are private clinics but many people cannot afford these and that's why MSF is here. Everday, except Sunday there are queues at the ER and for the OT.

"In the space of 19 days, we had 26 surgical cases.

"The one that stands out for me was a young girl whose leg had been torn open by a brick in the floodwater. Her father was so grateful to us.

"If MSF was not there she would not have received the same level of care.

"MSF has people on the ground so any donations that we receive for the flood relief in Pakistan will be put to use immediately there won't be any delays."

Source: Tyrone Courier
Date: September 1st 2010