Blackrock doctor returns from the Congo

A SOUTHSIDE doctor has just returned home from working
in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Nobel Peace Prize-winning aid agency,
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Adjusting to the recent cold snap after eight months
in a tropical climate, Niamh Allen, from Blackrock, is welcoming a change of
weather.

“I was based in a 180-bed hospital on the shores of
Lake Tanganikya,

? she recalled.

“It is a beautiful spot, and the lake is so
clear. In any other part of the world it would be a top holiday destination. There’s always music playing, and kids running
about everywhere. I’m actually finding
Ireland very quiet now.

“We were working with the Ministry of Health to
provide medical care free of charge to the local population,

? she explained.

“If MSF was not there the people would
have had to pay and most of our patients couldn’t have afforded that.

“The hospital was very busy. We often had three or four kids in one bed
and just six doctors for all these patients although I have to say the nurses
there were excellent, they had incredible clinical skills.

?

Niamh, who most recently worked as a Senior House
Officer at St James’s Hospital, spent a lot time in the paediatrics ward.

“I love working with kids, which is something I
haven’t done in Ireland since medical school,

? she explained.

“Kids come in
really sick but most of the time they get better really quickly, so it’s very
uplifting.

“One patient I remember well was a little boy of about
11, who had tetanus. It’s an infection that gets into your nerves and makes
your muscles really rigid. Eventually it can paralyse the muscles you breathe
with. I’d never seen a case before so I had to look it up in the book to make
sure I wasn’t wrong.

“With tetanus, all light and noise is really painful
for the patient, so we had to put this little boy into a darkened room all on
his own. I was so worried because we didn’t have the equipment to do artificial
ventilation if he needed it. But he did
really well and seeing him walk out of there three weeks later, fully
recovered, was amazing.

?

Unfortunately, not all Niamh’s young patients could be
saved.

“The biggest killer of kids under five is malaria, by
a mile. Often children would arrive
unconscious or very nearly unconscious, and you’d be fighting a losing
battle.

“You just don’ t forget the faces of the kids that
died,

? she reflected.

“You think you get hardened but for every kid that died, I’d be more upset than the
time before.

?

MSF has been working in the Democratic Republic of
Congo since 1981, running hospitals, mobile clinics, and vaccination
campaigns. At Baraka hospital where
Niamh was based, MSF is also running an HIV and TB programme, and an inpatient
therapeutic feeding centre (ITFC) to treat malnutrition.

The local population has suffered the effects of
violent conflict and resulting displacement for many years. Ongoing insecurity
and attacks make conditions and movement dangerous for both the population and
for humanitarian workers, adding to the already difficult problem of accessing
and providing quality healthcare.

“There were ongoing skirmishes here and there that
you’d hear about, and we received a steady trickle of patients with gunshot
wounds or trauma injuries,

? Niamh revealed.

“But as a neutral and independent
organisation, MSF always maintained good contact with people on all sides of
the conflict, and there was no objection to us being there.

An international organisation founded in 1971, MSF
opened its office in Dublin in 2006. MSF
Ireland welcomes applications on an ongoing basis. For information on volunteering
or donating, see www.msf.ie or call 01-6603337.