Doc leads mission to aid Nepal survivors
Teddies belonging to a Dunblane family were given to Nepal earthquake victims during a mercy mission to the Katmandhu area by their hospital consultant father.
Dr Paul Ho l m e s, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Forth Valley Royal Hospital at Larbert, took the fluffy toys with him after he volunteered to help after the first earthquake struck, leading to the deaths of 88,000 people and injuring 23,000.
He said: “My family were very supportive and when my kids heard I was flying out there they gave me their teddies and asked me to pass them on.
“There were a couple of women with babies who had no teddies because they had lost everything, so I was able to hand them over.
“I am proud of my children for being so thoughtful.”
Dr Holmes, a father of four and member of the Ochils Mountain Rescue, put his name forward for the UK International Emergency Trauma Register after chatting with a hospital colleague.
When he arrived in an area one hour east of Kathmandu he said the majority of buildings were still standing and supermarkets were open. However, turn a corner and he would see several buildings collapsed and there was no pattern to the damage.
To help prepare for working overseas Dr Holmes went on a number of training courses and in March spent a weekend under canvas in a field in Northampton setting up a field hospital – a bit like ‘Mash’. Actors took on various simulated roles appearing with wounds, bandages, disease, and medical and surgical obstetric emergencies and it was these kinds of scenarios which he believed he would be faced with. However, the reality was somewhat different.
He said: “I thought we would be busy treating people all the time but we never deployed our field hospital. Instead I was directed to Dhulikhel Hospital, which, like Forth Valley Royal Hospital, has around 3000 births a year but just three labour rooms.”
Here he witnessed some of the effects of the earthquake on Mums giving birth. One woman who had received a fractured femur ended up with a stillbirth, as did another patient with a pelvic fracture.
Dr Holmes said: “Staff there felt there was a peak in incidents of stillbirth, and more unexplained than usual.”
Dr Holmes’ duties mainly involved scanning. A week later he was attending a three- hour briefing on being moved to outreach villages, but five minutes after this finished, was told he was to fly home that evening. Ironically, these remote settlements were the epicentre of the second earthquake which killed over 100 people.
Looking back on his experiences, Dr Holmes said it wasn’t exactly what he expected but he wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer again.
He added: “As a doctor I have always been interested in helping out in emergencies and felt I had something to offer. I would certainly volunteer for another deployment and would say to anyone that if you want to do something like this you should do it. I found it very rewarding and it was a privilege to go out there and hopefully do some good.”
Dr Holmes said he appreciated the support from his colleagues and department managers in NHS Forth Valley and the backing of his wife and three daughters and his son.
Staff (in Dhulikhel Hospital) felt there was a peak of incidents of stillbirth and more unexplained than usual