01 Mar 2011
After floods struck southeastern Pakistan, thousands of survivors crowded into temporary shelters in sprawling tent cities. with little access to food, clean drinking water and temperatures reaching 40°C, Infections and disease were widespread. but only some 10 per cent of people received medical attention, as the Singapore medical relief team discovered upon its arrival.
Even though diseases such as the common flu, dengue, skin and eye infections, malnutrition and severe dehydration were widespread, people were initially reluctant to approach the clinic operated by the Singapore medical relief team, comprising Mercy Relief, Sing-Health and local staff.
“At first, the locals were hesitant to come to the clinic. We had to mingle with them and encourage them to seek treatment,” said Ms Arthi Devi Rabindra Nath Singh, Senior Staff Nurse, Changi General Hospital (CGH).
By the end of their onemonth stay, the team had treated more than 4,000 patients.
Ms Singh was one of 12 nurses from SingHealth institutions on the mission.
The backbone of the team, they acted as triage nurses who assessed and prioritised patients’ needs, pharmacists who dispensed medication, educators who provided nutritional and hygiene education and counsellors who listened to patients’ worries and concerns.
For the first-time volunteer, the experience was a world apart from her usual work environment in intensive care.
“The needs of the patients in Pakistan were very different from those of the intensive care patients I see here. On the mission, we saw mainly non-emergency cases, half of which were children,” said Ms Singh.
The other striking difference was the readiness of people to share their experiences – what had happened to them and the challenges they faced.
“If you ask them why they are here, instead of the reserved reply you often get in Singapore, people there would tell you their stories and confide their worries, which were mainly about food and water,” said Ms Singh.
One of the biggest challenges the nurses faced was a lack of resources, including an absence of high-tech equipment. “We had to find other ways to solve problems,” said Ms Suraidah Selamat, another member of the Singapore team and Staff Nurse, Singapore General Hospital.
Ms Singh added: “For example, we made boxes for needles and other instruments out of water bottles, simply by adding labels to the empty bottles.”
Besides medical care, the team focused on health education. As the tent city had poor sanitation and little clean water, they taught the people simple hygiene techniques. These included keeping hands clean to help prevent the spread of disease, boiling drinking water and the dos and don’ts of food preparation – like not using aluminium foil over an open flame. New skills benefit patients at home
Working in these unusual conditions, with limited resources and facing different challenges, the nurses also picked up a few lessons that have changed their approach to work back home.
“I am now a lot more careful with resources and don’t take them for granted,” said Ms Singh, who tries to reduce, reuse and recycle what she uses.
The biggest lesson for her was that even though the focus of her care is the patient, she can also help the family by providing support. “My experience in Pakistan made me realise that I needed to communicate more with families of intensive care patients, listen to their concerns and make sure they get to be with the patients – particularly during the last few moments,” said Ms Singh.
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