Volunteer work in Cambodia
Faculty Paramedic Student Alice Walls recently carried out two weeks of voluntary work in Cambodia where Alice visited various hospitals. Alice also worked in villages that don’t have access to hospitals and conducted observations on individuals whilst based in the chief of the village’s house. She also had the opportunity to watch theatre- an eye opening experience without keyhole surgery and when patients have to hold their own drips.
“Dehydration and malnutrition were the main conditions I came across, along with rashes that I had not seen before because they are only found in tropical climates,” explained Alice “One 7 year old I conducted observations on weighed only 15kg and had a high temperature, she was taken to hospital on a motorbike only to find out she was 477th in a queue of other needy patients.” Fortunately she was treated at one of the Children’s hospitals which functions thanks to aid received after many of the country’s hospitals had been destroyed during the Khmer Rouge period. “It’s strange to think that the job I am training for doesn’t even exist in Cambodia. The ambulance is essentially a bus with limited medicine on it.”
Content owner: Katherine Geer
