The View From a Libyan Hospital
The morgues in Tripoli hospitals are overflowing with dead bodies, and doctors in just one hospital said they have been treating more than 500 patients a day for gunshot wounds.
The morgues in Tripoli hospitals are overflowing with dead bodies, and doctors in just one hospital said they have been treating more than 500 patients a day for gunshot wounds.
Many of those doctors haven’t had the chance to leave the hospital for the six days that have passed since the revolt reached Tripoli on Sunday, and the environment is not one suited for productive medical care. On Saturday and Sunday, Tripoli Central Hospital was controlled by pro-Gadhafi forces. Soldiers roaming the halls would drag away patients who had been shot for protesting, never to be seen again. Doctors said they worried because they had run out of the most basic supplies, including antibiotics. But by early morning Monday, the hospital was suddenly under control of rebel forces. Volunteers swooped in with supplies and extra hands and the demographic of those receiving care changed swiftly from pro-Gadhafi wounded to rebel wounded.
Thursday was the bloodiest day yet, with bodies stacking up much faster than in previous days. And while the hospitals remain grossly understaffed, under-supplied and downright unclean, doctors expressed optimism that the fighting might end soon. –BF
Your support matters…The New York Times:
The Qaddafi government went into the hospitals and removed the televisions on which the doctors and others had furtively watched the independent news channel Al Jazeera. Closed-circuit television cameras appeared everywhere. Soldiers stationed in the hospital intimidated the doctors, threatening them with weapons and even hitting them, Dr. Masoud and others said.
Dr. Masoud said he kept working surreptitiously for the rebels. In preparation for the final uprising, he said, he and other doctors from Tripoli Central Hospital helped set up 15 makeshift field hospitals of a network of 30 in homes around Green Square, where they treated wounded rebels last weekend. That way they could avoid sending patients to Qaddafi-controlled hospitals and could ship those needing serious care out of town. “The rebels can’t come here or the Qaddafi people would shoot them,” Dr. Masoud said.
Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
Lack of government oversight has created public health crises including antibiotic-resistant diseases, foodborne illness and flu epidemics.
The social media site may suffer a mass exodus of users under the age of 55. These discoveries and more in today's Larry's List.
Researchers blame the problem on widespread use of fungicides on crops.
Chemists searching for ways to overcome antibiotic-resistant bacteria have generated more than 300 variations of a drug that has long been a cornerstone of medical treatment.
Frequent users of antibiotics were about 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes than those who had taken the drugs infrequently, researchers in Denmark found.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that a bacterium highly resistant to antibiotics has been found in squid imported from South Korea.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.