Burns unit treats first patients

By Mona McAlinden
BBC Scotland news website

This week, doctors at a new burns unit in the Lady Reading Hospital in the Pakistani city of Peshawar will begin treating their first patients.

Helen helped treat people in the aftermath of the earthquake

The facility is the first of its kind in the north west frontier province, an area populated by 24 million people.

Its opening is the culmination of 18 months of work by Helen and Tahir Hasan, from Cumnock, in Ayrshire.

The nurse and retired plastic surgeon decided to set up the unit after an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck South Asia and left about 75,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

Helen and Tahir, who is originally from the region, arrived in the town of Balakot - close to the epicentre of the quake - just three weeks after the disaster.

"We were initially planning to go on holiday but when we heard the earthquake had happened, and how serious it was, we decided to go," Helen said.

'Toppled over'

The Hasans helped to treat casualties in the immediate aftermath and it soon became apparent that there had been a sharp rise in the number of burns patients.

"Thousands of people were forced to live in tents and cook outside on paraffin stoves after the earthquake," said Helen.

"Many had suffered burns when the stoves toppled over and set the fabric alight.

Cooking outdoors proved a hazard for displaced people

"But there were no specialist units to deal with them - patients with horrendous burns were being treated in general wards. That's what spurred us on."

The couple set up a charity, Bridging Frontiers, to raise funds and medical equipment for the unit.

Their first destination when they arrived in Pakistan was Abbottabad, a military base which had been converted into a makeshift hospital.

"The hospital could accommodate about 500 patients under normal circumstances but that increased to 2,500 after the earthquake," said Helen.

Amassing supplies

"Some of the injuries were unimaginable - horrible fractures, severe burns and a lot of crush injuries."

The couple had a meeting with the province's health minister, who gave them a facility at the Lady Reading, where Dr Hasan had worked previously.

Having a base meant they could concentrate on amassing supplies through their charity and some Scottish health boards donated medical equipment.

A 40ft container carrying medical supplies arrived late last year

"A 40ft container left Scotland at the end of last year," Helen told BBC Scotland.

"About £300,000 worth of equipment and goods went out in that first load."

Since then, the couple have arranged race nights, food stalls and car boot sales to raise funds.

"Developing the unit will be an ongoing thing so we're still collecting," Helen added.

"My garage is full again, I've got three anaesthetic machines and four incubators so as soon as we've got enough stuff for another container, it'll be sent over.

"It's wonderful that the unit is now treating people, it makes all the work well worthwhile."