This is a video for a typical day in the life of a Brooke Luxor mobile clinic. Dr Ashraf Salem (team leader) is telling the story:
- 7:30 my team members arrived the 1st aid centre, actually it's earlier than my arrival with 30 minutes as they help the rest of centre's working staff in some routine work such as cleaning the place, preparing the outpatient clinic to start receiving cases.
- 8:00 the team started preparing and equipping the mobile clinic vehicle. Each member of the team has his own responsibilities. Montaser is the driver and he is responsible for cleaning the vehicle and checking on the mechanical status, oil, water etc. Khaled and Hassan are responsible for preparing the mobile clinic's equipments (drugs, instruments, surgical equipments, educational posters etc) and insuring we have everything that we need against the check list that I prepared for this purpose.
- 8:30 I spent the next 15 minutes double checking on the mobile clinic as the usual against my check list to insure we had everything we need before heading to Northern Hegaza community as per the weekly schedule. This is a very important process and I usually give it a lot of focusing as we drive for 45 minutes to Hegaza and leaving anything behind is not a favorite option.
- 8:45 we moved from the clinic and spent 45 driving minutes on the road to Hegaza.
While on the road we usually spend the driving time chatting and listening to the radio or some classic music which is the favorite for all the team members.
- 9:30 -- 9:45 we arrived Hegaza and I wasn't surprised when I found no animals waiting on the first sight as it has been three continues weeks for the team without visiting the area due to my participation in trainings and loads of office work. I had no doubt though that in few minutes and after being spotted under the shade shelter people will start admitting their animals to us and the showtime will begin.
- It was a very hot day, temperature reached 49 degrees and the sun was everywhere. We spent the first 15 minutes organizing the queue and insuring that the animals and people are standing under the shade. Unfortunately this wasn't possible as there wasn't enough shade for everyone so we had to stress ourselves and work without rest in order to solve this issue. We may have missed Uncle Ahmed's tea or enjoyed just little sips, we drank on the run.
- 9:45 I received the first case which was a donkey who showed a severe lameness and after the detailed examination I found that the animal is suffering from a foot abscess. I started my treatment by cleaning for the infected hoof then antiseptic. Painkiller was very important as it was obvious that the donkey can't step on his feet due to pain.
- My next case was another donkey suffering from a big saddle wound on his back! His young owner's name was Adnan. He was so quiet and calm, he was just watching me helping his animal, listening to my advises and confirming on everything im asking him to do as a follow-up procedure on his donkey.
They donkey was wounded after using a bad saddle and overloading. I advised Adnan to rest the donkey for a while after the treatment and to supply the saddle with extra soft bedding from underneath to isolate it away of the wound area.
- 11:00 It was a good time to begin the educational session for the owners. In such summer heat the people are getting back home earlier than the usual and I was concerned to lose more owners for my session.
Using a guiding poster I provided a session about hoof trimming and heat stress/importance of washing in summer for nearly 7 owners under the shade shelter. As the heat was extremely annoying I couldn't throw long speeches and was keen to give short messages but effective on the same time.
- Every time I looked away and I see any of the animals standing outside the shade I ask my team members and the owners to bring it inside. It was such a difficult task for everyone but also the heat and this melting sun was our motive to keep track on every animal to stay sheltered. No argument this was a tough mission but we did our best.
After the session ended I continued my treatment session till 12:30 which was time to get back to the clinic.
In 3 hours the team treated 36 cases suffering from several problems such as lameness, hoof infections, skin diseases, and saddle wounds. The people were keen to ask whether we will visit next week or not and the answer was yes.
