Iraq lacks facilities and expertise in emergency medicine

Bassim Irheim Mohammed Al Sheibani, lecturer physician¹…

Iraq has a population of over 26 million and more than 180 hospitals, but only a handful have emergency departments. As the violence escalates, and we attempt daily to deal with the devastating effect of multiple deaths and severe injury, the reality is that we cannot provide any treatment for many of the victims. Emergency medicine in Iraq has never developed to meet such unprecedented demand. Emergency departments are staffed by doctors who do not have the proper experience or skills to manage emergency cases.

Read the rest.  Grim.

That’s the title of a nice rant/op-ed piece at the Houston Chronicle’s online effort, chron.com.

By KIRA BACAL

Once upon a time, health care was a matter between you, your doctor and the chicken that you used as payment. Then it became a matter for you, your doctor, your employer, your health insurance company, the doctor’s malpractice insurance company. The list goes on …

I am a doctor. Although not old enough to have personally experienced the days of the chicken, I am old enough to be alarmed by this trend. It was out of a desire to learn, “How do we get back to the chicken?” that I left my emergency room in Houston for the U.S. Senate.

I wish I could say that I came away from the experience heartened by the dedication and attention that our leaders are lavishing on the “health care crisis,” confident that bold solutions are just around the corner. Unfortunately, my time on Capitol Hill left me less optimistic than before.

I thought it was from a field-trip, but apparently not:

Bacal is a physician with specialty training in emergency medicine, aerospace medicine, and public health. A graduate of Baylor College of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program, she has worked on health policy for the U.S. Senate as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow.

I know nothing of the New Zealand solution mentioned; can anyone enlighten me?