Photo By Master Chief Petty Officer Brian Brannon | The Kandahar Regional Military Hospital features 50 beds, operating rooms, and a 6-bed...... read more read more
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Kandahar province, Afghanistan – With highly trained medical personnel operating a 60-bed facility and intensive care unit, Kandahar Regional Military Hospital has set the standard for hospital care throughout Afghanistan.
Staffed with Afghan doctors and nurses working shoulder-to-shoulder with coalition advisors, the medical center is the first choice not only for Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan National Police personnel and their families, but also for civilians throughout Kandahar province.
ANA Col. Abdul Baseer Elaj, an internal medicine physician, has worked in Kandahar for more than two years and is now the director of the medical center.
“The success that we have is tremendous, compared to what we had before,” he said.
Col. Baseer attributes much of the hospital’s success to the knowledge and professionalism of the Coalition doctors, nurses and technicians working as advisors to the Afghan personnel.
“They’re great teams; they work close with us and they work hard with us,” he said. “One of the reasons we have such a high standard is because of these advisor teams.”
When a suicide bomber attacked a wedding ceremony in Arghandab last month, 26 critically injured civilians received the best treatment the facility had to offer.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Escher, senior medical advisor for the facility, said that the local elders were so thankful for the attention the people received that they mentioned it to President Hamid Karzai when he visited Kandahar province. The president then made a point to make sure that hospital personnel received certificates of appreciation for their work.
Although the hospital has made great strides, Col. Baseer said it still faces challenges as plans for expansion demand more beds, supplies, medicine, and personnel. U.S. Army Col. Greg Baine, Commander, Regional Support Command-South, pledged to help provide the hospital the assistance it needs.
But one area where the hospital has no problems is in keeping its blood bank supplied. About every eight weeks, a new group of 350 ANA recruits come through the nearby Regional Military Training Center and donate blood because they know the hospital is there to provide them with any future treatment that they might need.
“Without those donations, we’d have a serious problem here,” Lt. Col. Escher said. “It’s very fortunate that Col. Basheer has good relations with the army and the police.”
In addition to blood draws from ANA recruits, the hospital receives donations from soldiers of the ANA 205th Corps and ANP personnel.
Whether military, police, or civilian, the hospital makes a point to never turn anyone away. Each Tuesday, a clinic allows local women to seek medical help without an appointment.
“It’s not just for military and police wives and daughters, this is for any of the civilian women that need assistance,” Col. Baseer said.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2010 03:35 |
| Story ID: | 53311 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 744 |
| Downloads: | 250 |
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