Strike Soldiers visit clinics in western Baghdad: MND-B troops seek to help in life-saving equipment, abilities

Photo By Staff Sgt. James Hunter | Maj. Amit Bhavsar, a native of Fort Wayne, Texas, listens closely to an Iraqi doctor...... read more read more

Photo By Staff Sgt. James Hunter | Maj. Amit Bhavsar, a native of Fort Wayne, Texas, listens closely to an Iraqi doctor at a health clinic in western Baghdad community of Iskan April 27. Bhavsar, who serves as the brigade surgeon for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Multi-National Division -- Baghdad, visited three hospitals in western Baghdad to see their equipment shortfalls.  see less | View Image Page

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

04.30.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. James Hunter 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

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By Sgt. James Hunter
2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 101st Airborne Division

BAGHDAD – Women sat quietly in the waiting rooms as their young children curiously gazed around the room. With their white gowns neatly upon them, doctors and nurses moved quickly through the corridors carrying clipboards and charts. Even, an elderly Iraqi woman walked around with a squeegee and a bucket of steaming, hot water. She went room-to-room, cleaning the hospital floors.

It was an interesting place for the Soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad who were visiting the local medical facilities in their area that day. The facility was oddly quiet, which was strange for a place that had what seemed to be rather new or austere equipment. There was even a new X-ray machine.

The hospital seemed to have a certain flow to it. There was no uncertainty of what needed to be done. Even the patients seemed to have an understanding of how things ran, which could be an indicator the hospital was well run. There seemed to be no worries of outside problems, just ensuring the healthcare of their patients.

The biggest problem for the health clinic in the western Baghdad community of Washash seemed to be a lack of electricity, which officials said they couldn't afford fuel to keep it up and running.

Things were much different at a health clinic in Iskan. It too was quiet, but not because of the mundane hospital lifestyle but rather due to the lack of people within – there were perhaps 10 people in the building.

This was not one of the larger clinics. However, as was the case with the previous hospital, it was also experiencing a lack of fuel to power the generator which, in turn, supplies electricity to the building. As a result, the patients and workers gathered in near darkness besides the light coming through the front entrance.

The pharmacy was also spread thin, with only 25 percent of the shelves stocked.
There were only two workers present that day: a doctor and the front door receptionist. It served as an indicator for the visiting MND-B Soldiers that help is needed to help boost these hospitals abilities to care for their local populace.

Upon receiving reports that many clinics within western Baghdad were lacking medical equipment and power to adequately provide to their local populace, Maj. Amit Bhavsar, a native of Fort Wayne, Texas, decided to see first hand the problems that lay at hand April 27 with visits to clinics in Washash, Iskan and Adil. Bhavsar serves as the brigade surgeon for 2nd BCT, 101st Abn. Div.

What Bhavsar learned was that "yes the reports were accurate;" however, he also said he needed to personally see the effect the issues were having on the clinics and the local populace as a whole.

"I wanted to see what that meant," said Bhavsar. "The main things were: yes, all three clinics did lack power – enough power where they couldn't adequately perform their mission throughout the day. That lack of power was limiting their ability to carry out certain functions."

The three hospitals he visited reported they were only getting around two hours of power per day, which drastically cuts down on the ability to treat patients.

"None of the clinics had the ability to hold immunizations because immunizations require 24-hour refrigeration," Bhavsar said.

Though the clinics lacked power, it isn't because of an electrical shortfall but rather due to the lack of fuel they all able to obtain or even afford.

"All the clinics had generators, but most of them didn't have enough fuel to run the generators all the time," Bhavsar said. "They couldn't refrigerate or operate all their equipment, especially electronic equipment. So, they were very limited on what services they could offer throughout the day because of the lack of power."

With the lack of power and certain needed equipment it creates a serious problem.

According to a report, "Special report: health services in Iraq," the Iraqi government estimates that 70 percent of critically injured patients die in emergency care units due to the current lack of medical staff and supplies.

This is a serious issue, given the fact health clinics play a vital role in providing immediate and quality health care to their local population. Without the proper services, the population could potentially decrease and open the community to a number of other possible problems and even diseases.

Despite these challenges, life goes on inside the hospitals, which have one primary focus and concern: the health of their local citizens.

"The hospitals are running in a way you would expect them to run in a third-world country," said Bhavsar. "The physicians and the staff will make due with what they have and they will do their best. When you don't have an EKG or lab capabilities to diagnose a heart attack, you go back to simple things and you do a lot of guess work."

Bhavsar said he believes that without the capabilities to perform their jobs, they just have to go back to their training and get hands-on with the patients.

"In a lot of the places, the lack of equipment is certainly affecting medical care, but they will still try with the best of their ability," said Bhavsar. "Certainly, not having that equipment makes the practice of medicine much less of an exact science and more of an art; and surely, mortality and morbidity increase significantly when you're working that way.

"You still have to go on in that fashion," he added.

The clinic in Adil is a prime example. It is a primary care clinic that essentially does obstetric care and muscular and skeletal care, said Bhavsar. For the rheumatologist, who specializes in bone and joint disorders, it is extremely difficult for him to have a meaningful practice without being able to do lab tests required to diagnose certain conditions.

Getting the medical clinics to their full potential would go a long way in helping the local communities as a whole, he said.

"By functioning appropriately they would have to assume a primary care and preventive medicine and public health role in the community," Bhavsar said. "That involves things like normal newborn child screenings, prenatal examinations, immunizations and appropriate referrals to hospitals for conditions picked up early."

It's a community clinic, and it supports the community by keeping people healthy by increasing the access to medical care, added Bhavsar. It's not necessarily working that way because of the limitations.

"You don't have immunizations, the clinics are limited to the number of hours they can stay open, and the lab capabilities are limited," Bhavsar said. "So they're severely limited in performing that role."

So what happens from here?

"We are going to get together and discuss potential assistance for these clinics," Bhavsar said, "not just the fuel issue, but some of the shortfalls within the clinic."

"We'll look to provide some of this equipment and look to provide equipment to assess pregnant patients and basic diagnostic equipment, such as stethoscope," he continued.