|
|
|
| November 4, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 1, 1426 |
Volunteers — a godsend for hospitals
ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: The contribution of volunteers, especially of the students, to sharing the workload in the twin cities’ hospitals had been a godsend given the magnitude of the October 8 quake.
During frequent visits to the hospitals, this reporter saw that since the first day of the catastrophe, the volunteers of all age groups, with the youth in the forefront, had made a beeline to the hospitals sharing the grief of their hapless brothers and sisters, stretching them off and into the ambulances, taking them to different departments for check-ups, tests, dressings and rushing to the pharmacies to fetch medicines.
They all worked as to the manner born, making the doctors and the paramedics feel comfortable that things were in capable and skillful hands and they could conduct as many surgeries and operations as they could to save precious human lives. This all testified to our being one nation able to take all challenges in our stride.
There was no chaos, no commotion and no mismanagement - everything was in an apple-pie order. Everybody chose his duty and then did it wholeheartedly. It was a labour of love, to be precise.
Some of them even could not have a wink for twenty-four hours and there were dark shadows below their eyes. They could not sleep because they felt as though their own body was aching with pain; their own hands and legs were dressed in long rolls of cotton and their bodies were being operated upon.
Those belonging to the top drawer of the society and often taunted as being the members of the “burger class” were seen looking after the survivors like their own family members and sharing light moments with them to divert their attention from what they had gone through. They even sponged their bodies and helped them drink and eat.
The contribution of the locals was admirable, as they brought medicines, food, mattresses, blankets and even medical equipment valuing thousands of rupees to the hospitals.
They also provided the patients with wholesome food and juices during Sehri and Iftar times. There was so much food that a bulk of it got stale and had to be disposed of.
The administration of the hospitals cancelled vacations and holidays of their staff members and everyone was pressed into service. The Out Patient Departments (OPDs) of the hospitals were closed and not-so-serious patients were sent home to absorb the seriously injured quake victims. A large number of MBBS, nursing and paramedic students were also hired to meet the emergency situations.
The medical staff of all the hospitals were working round the clock. Most of them worked for more than 50 hours at a stretch, while some slept at the hospitals and did not go to their homes.
They were working without discrimination - female doctors and nurses were ministering to the male patients that was unthinkable in our society that is strictly conservative.
The hospitals were snowed under with patients without attendants. However, the volunteers looked after them like their own flesh and blood. None of the patients complained inattention. However, the relatives of the under-treatment patients had to face a lot of problem to find them despite compilation of data.
The government and the hospital administrations so nicely arranged security for the under-treatment patients, especially for the unclaimed girls, that there was not even a ghost of a chance to lift them.
Contrary to the doctors, nurses, paramedics and an army of selfless volunteers creating new chapters of love and care for humanity, the role of the ruling political leaders had been pathetic. They came to the hospitals guarded by a swarm of official security guards, creating panic all around. It’s like the proverbial setting the cat among the pigeons. They got themselves snapped while distributing bouquets among the patients and then departed leaving things at sixes and sevens behind.
|
|
|
|
