2004-03-18 15:24:00大魚
446-18 Practicing Medicine from Tent to Tent (1)
Practicing Medicine from Tent to Tent
By Huang Hsiu-hua
Photos by Michael Hsiao
Adapted and Translated by Yen Pei-yu
After an earthquake devastated Iran on December 26, 2003, a medical team from the emergency department of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital traveled to that country and treated victims in various camps for 12 days. They were completely shocked and touched by what they saw.
On December 26, 2003, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck southeastern Iran and devastated the historic city of Bam ["old city" in Persian]. Within 24 hours Dr. Kuo Chien-chung and nurse Tu Ping-hsu, carrying heavy backpacks, departed for Iran along with members of a Tzu Chi inspection team. Seventeen hours later, they arrived at the airport in Kerman, 180 km [111 miles] from the disaster area. The airport was crowded and noisy; people from the Red Crescent Society were busy transferring patients from Bam to other nearby hospitals.
A woman was sent to a temporary medical station in the airport lobby, and some medical personnel immediately approached her, hoping to save her life. A few minutes later, the woman was carried out with a thin blanket covering her body. A volunteer checked her blanket and discovered that the woman was still breathing, although just barely, so he immediately yelled for a doctor to help.
Kuo and Tu heard the volunteer's call and rushed to the woman's side without a second thought. They introduced themselves and were admitted to treat the woman. The woman's heartbeat returned to normal. But because further medical treatment was unavailable, they were forced to helplessly watch the woman pass away in front of them.
Kuo and Tu were in Iran from December 28 until January 11. "That experience really shook me up!" After coming back to Taiwan, Tu still feels sorrow for the Iranian victims. "When it was discovered that the woman was still alive, everyone was so happy; but when she couldn’t get follow-up ICU treatment, death still took her away." Kuo also feels sorry about the failures in the medical system. He said that at that moment when the woman died, he could only channel his sorrow into strength and do his best to save every other endangered life he encountered.
Serving from tent to tent
Since both attending physician Kuo and deputy chief nurse Tu serve in the hospital emergency department, they are good at dealing with patients who need urgent medical treatment. Both of them are often invited to instruct local residents on emergency treatment and skills. They are also asked to serve as the leaders of outdoor medical rescue systems. All in all, they have accumulated a lot of experience in emergency rescue.
Kuo is a very brave doctor. He participated in medical services in disaster areas in central Taiwan after the cataclysmic earthquake of September 21, 1999. In 2003, when the SARS epidemic was overwhelming Taiwan, he also volunteered to go to Taipei Sung Shan Hospital, where SARS patients were being treated.
Tu is one of the few male nurses in Taiwan. His hometown, Ta-hsing Village in Hualien County, was devastated by Typhoon Toraji and subsequent mudflows in August 2001. He was a victim but at the same time a nurse, so he wholeheartedly devoted himself to relief work. Now he is often seen caring for patients being transported in helicopters to Tzu Chi Hospital or carrying out emergency medical services in remote mountain areas.
Before their departure for Iran, Kuo and Tu knew clearly that they would be facing an unknown disaster scene in Iran. However, when they actually stepped into Bam, the most heavily damaged area, they found out that local hospitals had almost all completely collapsed. Fortunately, medical teams from other countries including France, Italy, and Jordan had entered the area to help victims. These medical teams were sending more seriously injured patients to nearby cities for further treatment.
Kuo says, "We served wherever relief distributions were held." In addition to storing relief materials, they also set up a medical compartment inside their chartered bus. Wherever they went to distribute relief materials to victims, volunteers also took victims requiring medical attention onto the bus for treatment.
During these 12 days, the relief bus served as a mobile clinic for more than 200 patients. Victims could wave at the bus from the roadside and get on to receive medication. Most patients were not seriously injured; some had digestive problems, respiratory infections, heart disease, and abrasions. They were mostly psychologically traumatized. Therefore, both Kuo and Tu would give special attention to the victims and talk with them. They believed that at that moment, psychological care would be more effective than medical treatment.
(pictures from RHYTHMS MONTHLY http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/rhythms/magazine/cover/cover-page/67.html)
By Huang Hsiu-hua
Photos by Michael Hsiao
Adapted and Translated by Yen Pei-yu
After an earthquake devastated Iran on December 26, 2003, a medical team from the emergency department of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital traveled to that country and treated victims in various camps for 12 days. They were completely shocked and touched by what they saw.
On December 26, 2003, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale struck southeastern Iran and devastated the historic city of Bam ["old city" in Persian]. Within 24 hours Dr. Kuo Chien-chung and nurse Tu Ping-hsu, carrying heavy backpacks, departed for Iran along with members of a Tzu Chi inspection team. Seventeen hours later, they arrived at the airport in Kerman, 180 km [111 miles] from the disaster area. The airport was crowded and noisy; people from the Red Crescent Society were busy transferring patients from Bam to other nearby hospitals.
A woman was sent to a temporary medical station in the airport lobby, and some medical personnel immediately approached her, hoping to save her life. A few minutes later, the woman was carried out with a thin blanket covering her body. A volunteer checked her blanket and discovered that the woman was still breathing, although just barely, so he immediately yelled for a doctor to help.
Kuo and Tu heard the volunteer's call and rushed to the woman's side without a second thought. They introduced themselves and were admitted to treat the woman. The woman's heartbeat returned to normal. But because further medical treatment was unavailable, they were forced to helplessly watch the woman pass away in front of them.
Kuo and Tu were in Iran from December 28 until January 11. "That experience really shook me up!" After coming back to Taiwan, Tu still feels sorrow for the Iranian victims. "When it was discovered that the woman was still alive, everyone was so happy; but when she couldn’t get follow-up ICU treatment, death still took her away." Kuo also feels sorry about the failures in the medical system. He said that at that moment when the woman died, he could only channel his sorrow into strength and do his best to save every other endangered life he encountered.
Serving from tent to tent
Since both attending physician Kuo and deputy chief nurse Tu serve in the hospital emergency department, they are good at dealing with patients who need urgent medical treatment. Both of them are often invited to instruct local residents on emergency treatment and skills. They are also asked to serve as the leaders of outdoor medical rescue systems. All in all, they have accumulated a lot of experience in emergency rescue.
Kuo is a very brave doctor. He participated in medical services in disaster areas in central Taiwan after the cataclysmic earthquake of September 21, 1999. In 2003, when the SARS epidemic was overwhelming Taiwan, he also volunteered to go to Taipei Sung Shan Hospital, where SARS patients were being treated.
Tu is one of the few male nurses in Taiwan. His hometown, Ta-hsing Village in Hualien County, was devastated by Typhoon Toraji and subsequent mudflows in August 2001. He was a victim but at the same time a nurse, so he wholeheartedly devoted himself to relief work. Now he is often seen caring for patients being transported in helicopters to Tzu Chi Hospital or carrying out emergency medical services in remote mountain areas.
Before their departure for Iran, Kuo and Tu knew clearly that they would be facing an unknown disaster scene in Iran. However, when they actually stepped into Bam, the most heavily damaged area, they found out that local hospitals had almost all completely collapsed. Fortunately, medical teams from other countries including France, Italy, and Jordan had entered the area to help victims. These medical teams were sending more seriously injured patients to nearby cities for further treatment.
Kuo says, "We served wherever relief distributions were held." In addition to storing relief materials, they also set up a medical compartment inside their chartered bus. Wherever they went to distribute relief materials to victims, volunteers also took victims requiring medical attention onto the bus for treatment.
During these 12 days, the relief bus served as a mobile clinic for more than 200 patients. Victims could wave at the bus from the roadside and get on to receive medication. Most patients were not seriously injured; some had digestive problems, respiratory infections, heart disease, and abrasions. They were mostly psychologically traumatized. Therefore, both Kuo and Tu would give special attention to the victims and talk with them. They believed that at that moment, psychological care would be more effective than medical treatment.
(pictures from RHYTHMS MONTHLY http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/rhythms/magazine/cover/cover-page/67.html)