Posted: 14 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT
Date: 05 Aug 2010
Location: Village Gul Abad, Tehsil Tangi, District Charsadda.
Team: CDRS (paramedical staff) and UM Healthcare Trust (Dr. Naveed – Team Leader)

Ad hoc clinic held on set day.

UM Healthcare and CDRS have been one of the first teams to start working in the region of Charsadda. The davastation in Charsaada had been massive, however the pace of relief work is slow.

On Thursday, the team went to Gul Abad village in Tangi Tehsil. This is one of the villages that has been ravaged by the flood waters, leaving many homeless who are now staying with their relatives or in neighboring houses that are still standing. Some who have no place to go have turned to government provided camps in schools.

Our visit was coordinated by UM Hospital’s administrator Mr. Haji Sher Akbar through Mr. Nisar (Ex-Nazim of Mandani), who arranged our stay. Even as we were travelling towards the camp site, there was heavy rainfall along the way which continued during our medical camp. Though this made it a bit diffcult for the families to reach us, most of them made it to our site.

We had set up camp in Government High School Gul Abad, where a number of affected families had sought refuge. The principal of the school helped us with arrangements and logistics. First we treated all of the families that were residing in the school itself and there was still time in the day, so we asked the principal to notify another neighboring school, the Government Primary School in Gulabad where some more families were staying. We treated patinets from that school too and vaccinated vulnerable patients against Tetanus.

One of our patients was a child with abscesses in both axillae (armpits) and a high grade fever. He had previously been treated with antibiotics at another camp but no one had observed his axillae. Although the kid was apprehensive, we counseled him and drained both abscesses.

Total Patients treated 100:
Males 47
Females 28
Peds (male) 13
Paeds (female) 12

After providing medications we also distributed rations among the families. The items included bottled water, biscuits, and formula milk for infants etc. We came back in the evening to our hospital in Zahidabad.

Report prepared by Dr. Naveed Muhammad, Medical Officer, UM Healthcare Trust