There
are two main hubs of activity in Bam. One is at the cross-roads
at the entrance to the town, just off the main road between
Kerman and Zahedan.
This is where the inter-city bus stops and where a straggle
of corrugated sheds zigzag along the side of the road, tables
laden with enticing goods spilling into the traffic. People
mill about, slowing down to admire the latest in shoes, pulling
their children past the enticing display of dolls or stopping
to inspect the ornate clocks - all ticking in time.
The traffic weaves in and out, sometimes the right way, sometimes
not. It is mayhem of the best kind – the kind that attests
to renewed hope in this city that is picking itself up and dusting
itself off after the earthquake which destroyed it nearly nine
months ago.
The other hub of activity is the referral hospital run by the
Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). Here, the hope is more
subdued and is mingled with pain. But it is the place that people
in need know to turn to.
Great expectations
Dr Aghazade, the hospital’s General Manager since early
May, cannot take more than three hurried steps before he is
stopped again.
“They come to the hospital for everything”, he explains
with a resigned sigh. “Not just medical matters. They
come to ask us for help in getting a prefabricated home or to
resolve problems with the Water Authority, or because they need
money. They expect a lot and we cannot provide it all.”
The minute he steps out of the small container that serves as
his office, he is accosted by a worried-looking father, urgently
waving a prescription form in the air. Next to him, the man’s
wife peers up hopefully, while their little girl, sporting a
neat white cast on her arm, shuffles her feet in the dust.
Dr Aghazade takes a precious minute to listen, then points them
in the direction of the Head Nurse, who can help. He is quick,
efficient and determined. But what shines through more than
anything, is the caring in his eyes.
A few metres farther on, a crowd mills about under the only
shade in this vast and dusty compound. This is the out-patients
department. More than 1,100 people come here every day, to be
seen by one of the doctors on duty.
Inside, nurses and lab technicians go efficiently about their
business. The 40 or so in-patients have no complaints. It is
cool, they are well cared for and some of them prefer being
in tents or in prefabricated buildings. They are still frightened
to stay in more elaborately constructed edifices. And things
just got better.
Transformation
This is what the International Federation’s field hospital
has been transformed into.
From an emergency response unit (ERU) set up within days of
the earthquake by a joint Finnish Red Cross and Norwegian Red
Cross team, with funding from the European Commission’s
humanitarian office, ECHO, the field hospital has slowly but
surely shifted its role into that of primary referral hospital
for the 200,000 people of Bam and its surroundings.
This is not exactly what it was intended for. But, with all
the other permanent medical facilities in Bam having destroyed
or rendered unsafe by the earthquake, it was the only facility
able to fulfil the obvious need.
Once it became apparent that a longer-term commitment would
be required, an agreement was reached between the Federation,
the Finnish and Norwegian Red Cross Societies and the Iranian
Red Crescent, following which the ERU Field Hospital was officially
handed-over to the IRCS.
Since the hospital was first set up, it has treated some 182,000
patients.
But the story does not end there. Rather than turn right, Dr
Aghazade heads left, across an empty expanse where the Federation
Rubb Halls – giant tent warehouses - used to be and towards
a neat row of white containers with jaunty blue trims, gleaming
in the distance.
He has an urgent meeting with the Federation’s construction
delegate. With them, is one of the engineers from IRCS’s
construction department. They have been agreeing last minute
details for the newly installed prefabricated units of this
60-bed facility which will continue to serve the people of Bam
over the coming months, as the harsh winter approaches.
Temporary solution
The new containerised hospital - built with contributions from
the Red Cross Societies of Australia, Belgium and Germany -
will be a more stable and compact environment in which to work
and the staff of the IRCS referral hospital have been looking
forward to the move into these new facilities.
This is still a temporary measure of course, but a solution
nevertheless, until Bam’s permanent medical facilities
are in a position to take over again.
“The Federation will contribute to the hospital’s
running costs until the end of December 2004. In the meantime,
the IRCS and Federation will engage in dialogue with the Iranian
Ministry of Health to establish how the IRCS’s service
is phased out and the Ministry of Health’s is introduced
to ensure that there is no health gap after the end of December.
If there is need for the IRCS hospital to run beyond December,
we are committed to doing so," says Mohammed Mukheir, head
of the International Federation’s delegation in Iran.
Once the handover to the authorities happens, the containers
and equipment will be packed up and shipped to IRCS warehouses,
to serve as an emergency response unit in the event of future
disasters in Iran. It is a concrete example of Red Cross Red
Crescent collaboration and of the strengthening of capacity
for a National Society that is mandated by the government to
be the leading agency in responding to natural disasters.
For Dr Aghazade, it is all about ‘wahdad’ or cooperation.
“When people have problems, it is very beautiful that
people from all over the world can help each other. It shows
our humanity,” he says simply and with evident sincerity.
With that, he is off again, striding back through the dust across
the compound. There is a lot to attend to in any one day and
Dr Aghazade cannot linger. He may not be able to provide it
all, but for the time being, he most definitely has a hospital
to run, here at the junction in Bam.
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The
new containerised hospital in Bam offers a more stable
and compact working environment for Red Crescent medical
staff (p12028)
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The
hospital's general manager, Dr Aghazade, chats with patients
at the old out-patient facilities (p12031)
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For
the past nine months, the referral hospital has worked
in a tent compound (p12029)
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Workmen
put in place the new prefabricated hospital (p12030)
Dr Aghazade is constantly approached by people asking
for his help "They expect a lot and we cannot provide
it all,” he says.
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