Red Cross Ambulance Service Offers
July 31, 2014
Beyene Tafete, 27, a clinical nurse by profession, has just reported to his duty station at the Leitchour refugee camp, 900 kilometres west of Addis Ababa. He is a volunteer with the Gambella branch of the Ethiopia Red Cross Society. About two months ago he was deployed to the ambulance service operational in the camp that currently hosts about 47,000 South Sudanese refugees.
About 150,000 people fled to safety in Ethiopia following the outbreak of violence in South Sudan in mid-December 2013. The Red Cross has deployed four fully equipped ambulances to evacuate critically ill patients from refugee camps and transit centres to the Gambella Referral Hospital for further treatment. Each ambulance has a clinical nurse and one volunteer to attend patients. One ambulance is stationed in Leitchour, with the remaining three in other locations.
On average, I deliver three patients a week to the hospital in Gambella about 120 kilometres away from here. The journey takes about two and half hours for us to get there from Leitchour, said Beyene.
Pregnant women with complications are always sent to the referral hospital to ensure that they deliver their babies in a safe environment and under the care of specialized medical staff. The clinic in the refugee camp sends midwife with us whenever we have to evacuate a pregnant woman. We are forced to move slowly as the road is very rough. Once we had to deliver a baby along the way to the hospital.
With conflict already into the seventh month, the population refugee is expected to grow. The four ambulances will not be enough if this continues. There is no ambulance on standby when the emergency services team is on its way to or from the hospital in Gambella. I received on-the-job coaching for emergency ambulance services from the Red Cross,said Beyene. I hope to further my training to help me serve humanity better.
The Ethiopia Red Cross Society is, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Swiss Red Cross Society, undertaking an emergency operation to respond to the needs of the South Sudanese refugees. Staff and volunteers are working closely with Movement partners to provide proper hygiene, sanitation, environmental cleaning, water delivery, household items and emergency health interventions.
About 150,000 people fled to safety in Ethiopia following the outbreak of violence in South Sudan in mid-December 2013. The Red Cross has deployed four fully equipped ambulances to evacuate critically ill patients from refugee camps and transit centres to the Gambella Referral Hospital for further treatment. Each ambulance has a clinical nurse and one volunteer to attend patients. One ambulance is stationed in Leitchour, with the remaining three in other locations.
On average, I deliver three patients a week to the hospital in Gambella about 120 kilometres away from here. The journey takes about two and half hours for us to get there from Leitchour, said Beyene.
Pregnant women with complications are always sent to the referral hospital to ensure that they deliver their babies in a safe environment and under the care of specialized medical staff. The clinic in the refugee camp sends midwife with us whenever we have to evacuate a pregnant woman. We are forced to move slowly as the road is very rough. Once we had to deliver a baby along the way to the hospital.
With conflict already into the seventh month, the population refugee is expected to grow. The four ambulances will not be enough if this continues. There is no ambulance on standby when the emergency services team is on its way to or from the hospital in Gambella. I received on-the-job coaching for emergency ambulance services from the Red Cross,said Beyene. I hope to further my training to help me serve humanity better.
The Ethiopia Red Cross Society is, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Swiss Red Cross Society, undertaking an emergency operation to respond to the needs of the South Sudanese refugees. Staff and volunteers are working closely with Movement partners to provide proper hygiene, sanitation, environmental cleaning, water delivery, household items and emergency health interventions.