Head of the Accident and Emergency Department, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Dr. Chaney Williams.
Head of the Accident and Emergency Department, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Dr. Chaney Williams, says Dominica is in need of medical supplies.
Dr. Williams who went to the hurricane-battered country to offer her professional expertise at the main hospital which is now dealing with a high volume of patients, in addition to working towards becoming fully functional again, said many there are seeking medical attention forvarious illnesses, and indicated that the facility is in need of important supplies.
The experienced medical practitioner was speaking to The Barbados Advocate last week, shortly after returning from Dominica.
Dr. Williams said going to Dominica was an overwhelming experience as everyone there had experienced some form of loss. She pointed out that while the hospital’s staff was also facing their personal challenges and losses; they reported to work and offered their services to patients.
“Our purpose for being there was so that they can sort out their personal lives. Some of them have lost roofs, lost family members, property etc. The patient mix was a little different because there was a heavy weight on those persons who had injuries and infections as a result of the storm. So yes, we saw non-communicable disease issues, we saw a lot of asthmatics down there because they are now burning stuff to try to get rid of their debris.
“We saw a lot of puncture wounds, ulcers, and leg infections that got even more complicated and they were more spectacular than what we would see in Barbados because access to health care was a bit
limited initially,” she said.
Dr. Williams also explained that though she and her team which was made up of three doctors and four nurses are trained to deal with such crisis situations, it was somewhat challenging, due to the fact that Dominica’s hospital is not fully functional, as some of the facilities are out of commission.
“Fortunately we are able to function under stressful conditions, so we were able to fit in quite well, and everyone was quite pleasant and welcoming. We were sad to leave so soon, because we know that their recovery is going to take years.
“The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) is now organising and formalising a more consistent effort in terms of supporting the health care services and hopefully that can be sustained and if we have the opportunity to go back, we would go back,” she said. (AH)