Egyptian field hospital re-opens

Photo By Senior Airman Megan P. Lyon | Col. Ahmed Gaber, hospital commander, checks the heartbeat of a young patient at the pediatric clinic at the El Salem Egyptian field hospital, Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, Jan. 5.  

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

01.05.2009

Courtesy Story

Combined Joint Task Force 101

From the Combined Joint Task Force - 101 Public Affairs Office

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The El Salam Dgyptian field hospital, which sees more than 7,200 Afghan patients a month, reopened, Jan. 5, after almost a month of closure due to a staff transition.

During the closure, the hospital staff added a gastroenterology clinic, day-care unit and a tropical medicine consultant to the list of services.

Members of the Egyptian army and Egyptian air force deploy to Afghanistan every six months to work with the Afghan people at the hospital. Since arriving in Afghanistan, the new staff has also improved the hospital by streamlining patient admission.

"Every patient coming in the security gate goes through the general practice station where a brief medical history is taken. From there they are directed to the most relevant clinic," said Col. Ahmed Gaber, hospital commander.

"The day care unit is a four-bed unit for patients who only need a few hours of observation or simple [medical] procedure," said Col. Hossom Abdallah, chief doctor. "This saves on bed space in the overnight unit."

The hospital currently has 35 inpatient beds, including four intensive care unit beds and one isolation bed. The hospital is open six days a week, alternating between women-only and men-only days.

"During the past rotation the average daily outpatient clinic attendance was between 300 to 350 patients but sometimes attendance can be as high as 500 patients," said Abuallah.

On the hospital's opening day, a large number of Afghans made the trek to the hospital to be seen for a variety of ailments. One of the youngest patients was an eight-month old infant with a large abdominal tumor.

With children making up 31 percent of the patients, much of the focus is on pediatric medicine.

"Malnutrition is one of the largest pediatric conditions seen here," said Gaber. "The care given here is actually two-part. Not only is it [care] for the children, its teaching parents' nutritional health and hygiene for the children."

"We are trying to do our best for our patients and press on health education including nutrition, vaccination, hygiene and preventative medicine," he added.

• Date Taken: 01.05.2009
• Date Posted: 01.08.2009 07:25
• Story ID: 28593
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF