Hobbled hospitals brace for war
2003-03-19 20:58
Baghdad - After 12 years of sanctions, Iraq's dilapidated hospitals were preparing on Wednesday to treat war casualties as best as they can, moving into high-alert on the eve of expected military action.
"Half of the hospital personnel has been called up as of today and the teams are mobilised for 12-hour periods," Dr Adel Jabar Ali, a surgeon at Al-Naaman hospital in the Adamiya quarter of Baghdad said.
In his office, a man in his 60s waited for a hernia operation, but the doctor had just told him that the procedure would have to wait "until after the war".
The hospital director, Ahmad al-Masari, said he had informed doctors that after the start of bombing "all hands will need to be on deck to care for the wounded 24 hours a day".
He said none of them were afraid of coming to work during the siege because "they are used to war".
Under normal circumstances, the 250-bed hospital specialises in general surgery, obstetrics and ear-nose-and-throat care.
"We have generators, medicine and potable water," Masari said.
But hospitals have suffered like most of the Iraqi infrastructure due to the UN sanctions slapped on the country after the first Gulf War in 1991.
Iraqi Health Minister Amid Mahdat Mubarak told reporters this week "losses in a bombing of the civilian population could be enormous due to the expected intensity of the American bombing."
The United States has promised a fierce initial blitz during the opening days of the war intended to "shock and awe" Iraqi troops into surrendering.
Emergency drills
He said hospitals had been given greater autonomy to allow them to treat cases rapidly without the aid of other hospitals.
The minister said "emergency drills have been undertaken several times and have proven satisfactory.
"We have also put in place the most effective system possible to move the wounded."
In the Attafiyah quarter, the ambulance centre is equipped with a modern telephone switchboard and about 50 vehicles waiting in the garage.
According to the French non-governmental organisation Premiere Urgence, represented in Baghdad by one expatriate and 60 Iraqis, Iraqi civil security will be in charge of moving casualties.
Medical kits for 7 000
The spokesperson of the International Red Cross in Baghdad, Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, said he had a supply of medical kits to operate on 7 000 severely wounded victims.
He noted that a lack of nursing care complicates operations on the ground.
The Red Cross has recently stepped up its efforts on water purification and is armed with generators in case the bombing knocks out power stations.
A million litre bags of fresh water have also been distributed to Iraqi hospitals.
"We are used to war situations and are ready. We gained a lot of experience in 1991," said Dr Abdel Nasser Mohammad, a surgeon at Baghdad's Aa-Karkh hospital.