June at AHC
| |
June 2007 |
Year to Date |
Total |
| Outpatient |
10,937 |
46,851 |
447,855 |
| Inpatient |
347 |
1,686 |
20,394 |
| Intensive Care Unit |
73 |
356 |
2,841 |
| Low Acuity Unit |
59 |
393 |
6,434 |
| Emergency |
1,500 |
7,318 |
78,447 |
| Surgery |
118 |
698 |
7,391 |
| Home Care |
195 |
1,355 |
8,928 |
| Dental Care |
2,761 |
13,501 |
75,716 |
| Eye Care |
221 |
1,507 |
8,576 |
| ARV Treatment |
375 |
2,170 |
n/a |
| Lab Tests |
6,215 |
28,756 |
229,268 |
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Dengue Fever Epidemic
Our worst fears were realized
this month as an epidemic of Dengue Fever began spreading across Cambodia. There
have been more than 10,000 cases reported so far this year. Hospitals throughout
the country are quickly becoming overwhelmed with the number of children seeking
treatment for the disease. In June, an average of over 500 children children
were seen in AHC's Outpatient Department each day. Although there are hundreds
of children arriving at AHC each day, due to the limited resources available,
only the most severely ill are admitted to the hospital. In June, AHC admitted
271 children diagnosed with Dengue Fever - more than the entire number of Dengue
Fever cases admitted to the hospital in all of 2006. Health officials predict
that the Dengue epidemic will intensify during the height of the rainy season,
July and August.
A Typical Story...
Nine-year old, Sort Pisith, is one of three children of a family
in Kampong Thom Province. Like many of Cambodia's rural poor, they have limited
access to appropriate child health care. Hearing from a neighbor about AHC
they paid 40,000 riel ($10USD) to make the 110 kilometer journey to AHC by
motorcycle taxi.
Adapting to the Crisis
It would be impossible to run the hospital as normal during the Dengue Fever
crisis and the staff has made several temporary changes to ensure that the
maximnum number of children have access to safe and compassionate care. Physically,
the hospital does not have enough beds to accomodate the number of children
requiring hospitalization. Straw mats now fill the hallway floors between
departments. Sleeping under mosquito nets outside the hospital has become
the norm for children who do not require immediate admission, but do require
follow-up the next morning.The staff has done an incredible job to help make
sure as many children as possible are seen. Many are working overtime with
few breaks, rotating between departments and taking on duties outside of their
normal routines. All non-essential training programs for the staff have been
postponed until further notice.
Volunteers Help Out
A big thank you to the many volunteers who generously donated their time
at AHC in June - the visiting doctors and nurses who worked alongside our
staff here, and the non-medical volunteers who helped in a wide variety of
ways to make sure our patients recieved the best care possible.
The Dengue Fever crisis is affecting hospitals in all regions
of the country, many staffed by health workers without the proper skills or
knowledge to treat the disease. Responding to requests for urgent training
from rural hospitals, AHC doctors travelled to Battambang to provide short
teaching sessions at the Referral Hospital located there. Lectures were provided
to doctors and nurses seperately, but in the afternoon all students attended
ward case studies. Further training has been requested by the doctors and
nurses from Kampong Chham Province. In addition to the above training, AHC
continued with regularly scheduled training programs for government workers
- Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) and a national Nursing
Student program.
