Emergency in Algeria for the victims of terrorism
Report provided by Alberto Colombi, MD, of Emergency, a nonprofit organization based in Italy (www.emergency.it/eng/index.html)
The first EMERGENCY 'envoy' to Medea, Algeria is Antonio Carvalho, an orthopedic prosthesis technician who is there since January, this year. During these weeks he dedicated his time to the restructuring of the existing facilities making adaptations to a more rational prosthesis production and application process.
Facilities improvements are by now completed and all available spaces are equipped and furnished. Offices and waiting rooms have been furnished with pieces found on the local market . The Physical therapy gymnasium has been equipped with materials and tools found in Algiers which is about 80 km. from Medea.
Materials and components for prosthesis fabrication have been purchased in Europe and are now already deployed in the Medea Orthopedic Center. Machinery for prosthesis manufacturing are sitting -a few days now - in the port of Algiers , where from they will be transferred to Medea as soon as customs and import paperwork will be cleared.
The beginning of operations and further deployment of personnel are by now imminent, and we think that the Center will be operational by the end of June.
The last task to carry out to open the center is the recruiting and selection of Algerian orthopedic technicians. In Algeria there is a discrete number of adequately trained technicians, including some that went through staging through some European companies.
The situation in Algeria is not yet stable, even if it has improved, and Medea is still considered a town at high risk for terrorist attacks. In fact these still happen, even if they are not daily attacks as it used to be until two years ago.
Our presence in Medea, aimed at providing care to amputees victims of violence, has also the purpose of bringing with our presence a practical sign towards resuming a normal and secure life. Let us hope that soon the town of Medea, too, repeatedly named in manslaughters and terrorist attacks bulletins, may become a town of peace and human rights. From Medea Antonio saw on our web site the peace flags flying on the Kerbala hospital; in an e-mail he asked for a few for Medea. We will send him some as soon as possible.
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