A Bali Expat Aid Worker on Syria’s Frontline
John Bunnell, a resident of Bali for nine years, went to war-ravaged Syria as a logistician For two main in addition to also a half months, working in an undercover field hospital of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Border). Here he shares his experiences coming from the frontline.
Our field hospitals in Syria were ‘undercover’. Initially, we were running a hospital inside a cave, then that will was moved into a non-functioning farm—a better location in addition to also we could adapt that will to reduce the risk of shrapnel or mortar fire. When I got there, the field hospital was already operational, although in a rough way. There were always things that will needed improvement in addition to also a constant threat that will the entire hospital could be moved to another location on short notice. The look of the hospital inside will be quite normal, although that will was obvious that will had to be made operational quickly. The same, old, inflatable operating theatre coming from the cave was used for sanitary in addition to also privacy issues. that will also has emergency rooms, inpatient in addition to also outpatient departments, a very busy maternity ward, which we expanded, in addition to also even a mental health component.
Helicopter drumming in addition to also shelling were fairly continuous within the “free” area in which we were working. that will being said, the hospital was never targeted, nevertheless you could hear the explosions at any time of the day or night; some being far worse than others. MSF was very adamant that will every field worker coming to the project completely understood the situation they were getting into. that will was an assignment in a war context in its purest form. We had war-wounded coming in fairly regularly, in addition to also some big mass casualties just before I arrived. that will was our main focus to be prepared for.
I went in as a LAF (Log/Admin/Fin). I found the administrative part of the job to be cumbersome to the rest of my job. There were major alterations in human resources (HR) that will needed to be done that will required a lot of attention. The decision was made to bring in an HR expert to give me some relief; creating that will possible for me to concentrate on pure logistics. Before the war, Syria was a developed nation, in addition to also a lot of our national staff were educated to a fair degree. I was fortunate enough to contain the help of some excellent national staff in my department towards the end of my mission.
The actual compound of the hospital will be not very big, so that will was easy to get around. We also had two rental houses within the valley below, an outpatient department, three mobile clinics in addition to also a first-aid post that will all needed attention. My duties entailed all aspects of regular MSF logistics, nevertheless I was told to focus on communication as a priority when I arrived. Communication was very tricky in addition to also too much time was spent within the pursuit of that will. I believe This kind of was well-addressed while I was there.
Supply, surprisingly enough, worked out pretty well, relatively speaking. We could get some very simple things coming from the community—nails, cement, gravel, drums, in addition to also basic food items. The majority of medicines in addition to also some other medical supplies were brought in legitimately through legal border crossings; some other more normal items were regularly moved across the border at a variety of crossings using a variety of means. All these required lots of Great contacts in addition to also networks to ensure that will we received the medicines in addition to also supplies quickly for the medical team to do their jobs. All of these movements, including the crossing of staff, were some of the most amazing I have seen in my life. Movements in addition to also crossings changed by the day in addition to also sometimes by the minute. I was amazed at how our staff pulled off these situations on a regular basis!
In Syria, security was also on the top of the list of priorities. We had some unfortunate incidents where people came in with weapons. No one was harmed, nevertheless that will was disturbing to say the least. This kind of made us quickly look at how This kind of needed to be corrected immediately. that will will be a basic ground rule of MSF projects worldwide that will we will treat anyone who needs medical assistance, including soldiers or rebels, nevertheless all weapons must be left outside the MSF facility.
In a war context, there were unavoidable incidents that will could jeopardize the security of our staff in addition to also patients. Physical alterations were made to the hospital at the end of my mission to help solve these important problems. I was mostly involved within the practical aspect of security —training the watchmen, doing physical installations of the entrance to screen the people coming into the hospital in addition to also make that will a gun-free zone. We set up an entrance where the staff in addition to also patients alike are screened before they entered the vicinity of the hospital. There are ‘layers of barriers’ or different stops before you could get inside—there’s one for mass casualty, for patient registration, in addition to also for the staff.
Daily security meetings were a key part of our days. The field coordinator in addition to also I, together with the medical focal point in addition to also security advisor, held daily meetings within the morning followed by another one which involved the whole team. On regular days, we met twice a day. On bad days we had many more! I have never experienced such comprehensive security meetings in any some other mission.
The security meetings are not only for staff safety, nevertheless also to prepare for what’s going to happen next—when are we expecting an influx of patients, what type of injuries we are expecting, who could work in addition to also handle patients’ cases, what’s needed, do we have enough supplies, are there going to be mass casualties or just a handful of wounded people.
that will was a very tough assignment because we were in a war. Even though that will was one of my best missions ever, that will was a very sad in addition to also horrible situation for Syria. I might go back if they asked me to, though.
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A Bali Expat Aid Worker on Syria’s Frontline
A Bali Expat Aid Worker on Syria’s Frontline