CAIRO - Nadil Kamel Abuda, 51, found himself at the heart of the recent deadly clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Tahrir Square. The first-aid worker was doing his humanitarian duty in order to save every soul regardless of his approval or disapproval of these protests. Nadil told the Egyptian Mail in an interview: "It's neither here nor there whether I agree with them or not. I imagine that all the injured are my relatives, and it is my duty is to keep them alive until they reach the hospital." He added that when working in Tahrir Square, the crowds were so dense that it was quite hard to reach the injured. Nadil, who works in 24-hour shift rotations with other ambulance staff, is keen to do his job as best as he can. He knows that the medical sector is subject to constant debates, changes and new decrees, and that there is much space for improvement. Although Nadil's salary is too small for a family with four children, he is committed to fulfilling his humanitarian duty and hopes that his financial situation will improve, so that his children can have the good education they desperately want. Working in first aid does not require a medical qualification, only a health check and basic exam. According to Yousri Mohamed Ali, 33, health checks every three months are mandatory. "If it turns out that one of us first aid workers is a drug addict or suffers from medical problems, he gets fired on the spot.” A first-aid worker's responsibility ends when he has stopped the bleeding of a patient or dealt with simple bone fractures. Youssri added that what annoyed him most was when an ambulance arriving outside the Emergency Department had to wait. It meant they could neither deliver the patient nor drive away to deal with the next casualty. “If someone in critical condition received immediate first aid it could mean the difference between life and death.” Ambulances face other problems in Cairo, like the ever-present traffic jams and the culture of not letting ambulances pass. Nadil was full of anger about Egyptian car drivers' lack of respect and consideration. He thought an awareness campaign was desperately needed. The Ministry of Health announces on its website that it is upgrading the nation's ambulance fleet with more than 1200 new Volkswagen T5 vehicles. Each new ambulance costs LE500,000 and is equipped with state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment. There is an electric suction device, a portable automatic Weinmann Medumat ventilator, Schiller AED, an aluminium first-aid kit, two oxygen bottles, a stretcher, a spine board, a collapsible stretcher stowed underneath and a folding evacuation chair. The Ministry of Health has also ordered six high-speed boats to serve the areas of Luxor and Qena, where it is much easier to transfer patients on the Nile, in addition to two helicopter ambulances. The Ministry of Health has given its 3,000 paramedics further training so that they know how to use the new equipment. The Ministry has also started to position ambulances in strategic squares to shorten the response time to 8 minutes. Although first-aid workers and ambulance drivers were praised for their work during the recent clashes, there has also been some criticism due to the lack of doctors. Mohamed Boreik Shehata, 30, a project manager at a pharmaceutical company, thought this was a contentious issue, since first aid workers were not qualified to give an accurate diagnosis. Doctors specialised in first aid needed to be present in the field. "Even if ambulances are well-equipped, staffing is still a problem. They need continuous training to cope with all types of casualties and know about medical advances, so they will stop treating patients irresponsibly," Mohamed said.
