Sri Lanka – The journey of a war wounded patient seeking medical care
Jun 08, 2009
Dipesh is one of the patients in the MSF field hospital, the closest referral hospital for the 220,000 displaced people living in Menik Farm camp. Since he was wounded over a month ago, Dipesh has been going from one medical structure to another looking for treatment.
Anxiety overcomes the strong 37-year-old man’s face as he awakens after the surgery. “How did it go? What did the surgeon say?” he asks.
It’s been one month since he has been unable to walk, and he cannot help his wife and two children as much as he would like.
Dipesh was injured on April 20 while escaping from the Vanni, the now former battle zone in Sri Lanka’s north. With a large, deep wound on his right foot, he continued to walk and managed to cross the frontline. At the first crossing point, the army bandaged his foot and told him to ask for medical care at the main crossing point in Omanthai. But Omanthai crossing point was severely crowded, and he was sent straight to a camp without seeing a doctor. Once in the camp, Dipesh asked again to go to the hospital but no authorisations to leave for medical care were given before the registration process was completed. It took four days to be registered and only then was he referred to the hospital in the nearby city of Vavuniya.
A surgeon in Vavuniya hospital cleaned his wound for the first time, almost a week after Dipesh had reached the government controlled area. But no follow up was possible as the hospital was too crowded and Dipesh had to go back to the camp. That same day, on the 2nd of May, all the displaced people in his camp were moved to Menik Farm camp.
In Menik Farm camp, it took him four days to see a doctor as the clinic in the camp was so crowded. The doctor was obliged to refer Dipesh to another hospital, because the wound was too infected. For three weeks, from the 9th to the 27th of May, Dipesh went every other day to a hospital in Cheddikulam for a dressing, with a special bus for patient transfer. On the 27th of May, he was referred to the MSF field hospital outside Menik Farm camp, where surgical activity had begun.
“It’s not that bad now, its improving”, notes the surgeon after opening Dipesh’s bandage. It’s the second time that he proceeds to a wound debridement for this patient. The wound is far from healed but the infection is under control.
Anxiety overcomes the strong 37-year-old man’s face as he awakens after the surgery. “How did it go? What did the surgeon say?” he asks.
It’s been one month since he has been unable to walk, and he cannot help his wife and two children as much as he would like.
Dipesh was injured on April 20 while escaping from the Vanni, the now former battle zone in Sri Lanka’s north. With a large, deep wound on his right foot, he continued to walk and managed to cross the frontline. At the first crossing point, the army bandaged his foot and told him to ask for medical care at the main crossing point in Omanthai. But Omanthai crossing point was severely crowded, and he was sent straight to a camp without seeing a doctor. Once in the camp, Dipesh asked again to go to the hospital but no authorisations to leave for medical care were given before the registration process was completed. It took four days to be registered and only then was he referred to the hospital in the nearby city of Vavuniya.
A surgeon in Vavuniya hospital cleaned his wound for the first time, almost a week after Dipesh had reached the government controlled area. But no follow up was possible as the hospital was too crowded and Dipesh had to go back to the camp. That same day, on the 2nd of May, all the displaced people in his camp were moved to Menik Farm camp.
In Menik Farm camp, it took him four days to see a doctor as the clinic in the camp was so crowded. The doctor was obliged to refer Dipesh to another hospital, because the wound was too infected. For three weeks, from the 9th to the 27th of May, Dipesh went every other day to a hospital in Cheddikulam for a dressing, with a special bus for patient transfer. On the 27th of May, he was referred to the MSF field hospital outside Menik Farm camp, where surgical activity had begun.
“It’s not that bad now, its improving”, notes the surgeon after opening Dipesh’s bandage. It’s the second time that he proceeds to a wound debridement for this patient. The wound is far from healed but the infection is under control.
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