Women are playing an important part in
helping their fellow Afghans overcome decades of conflict, while trying
to create new opportunities and improved services in the country. A series
of portraits focuses on the women trying to put the country back on its
feet.
Supporting Kabul's ambulance service
One clear result of the protracted conflict in Afghanistan is the destruction of the infrastructure in towns and cities. Basic services that are taken for granted in many countries are either severely degraded or now non-existent in Afghanistan.
Even as the conflict continues in parts of the country, however, work is underway to restore essential services. The ICRC, the Afghan Red Crescent and other National Societies are making a valuable contribution to the restoration of essential services in Kabul.
The Norwegian Red Cross Society (Norcross) has undertaken to re-create an ambulance service in the city, having recently concluded a USD 1.2 million reconstruction of the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, the only orthopaedic referral hospital in Afghanistan.
The Kabul Ambulance Service, the city's only functioning ambulance service, has been established as a free-of-charge service for the whole population.
A staff of 103, including a driver and nurse for each of the Service's 13 ambulances have been trained to operate from one base station and four sub-stations in Kabul. Staff are trained in two basic courses dealing with medical emergencies and special driver training, and they then receive annual refresher courses.
Karen Bjornestad, the NorCross program manager and emergency medical trainer for the ambulance service explains.
"Our key national staff are excellent, well trained and very motivated, and we hope that this will enable the standards of the Service to be maintained as the Service is taken over by the Ministry of Public Health."
The ambulance service has cooperation agreements with both the traffic police and fire brigade for disaster preparedness and a memorandum of understanding exists with international organizations in Kabul for the use of medical facilities in the case of a major incident that causes mass casualties.
Six of the ambulance service staff are female and, of these, two are ambulance nurses working at the call centre. Karen would like to see more female nursing staff at work with the Ambulance Service.
"Because the ambulance service is on 24 hour duty for patients it is necessary to have crews ready to respond at any time. But it is not easy to get families to agree to female nurses working in our depots or in the ambulances with male drivers. This is a challenge to be overcome in the future."