The heroes inside Malaysia’s biggest army field hospital

 

Dr Shamesh Baskaran (foreground) and his co-workers are the medical pioneers of Penang Medan Hospital. (Shamesh Baskaran pic)

TANJUNG BUNGAH: While the number of Covid-19 cases steadily decreases and hordes of Malaysians pack their swimsuits and beach balls for Langkawi, a doctor at the Penang General Hospital tells FMT that the battle against the coronavirus is nowhere near over.

“The situation is quite critical in the Penang hospital where most of the wards had to be converted into Covid-19 wards to accommodate the increasing number of patients,” says Dr Shamesh Baskaran, 33.

August was one of the darkest months for Penang when the state recorded the highest number of cases per 100,000 people in the country.

Patients flooded the ICU wards and Shamesh and his medical team, critically understaffed by this point, desperately appealed for help as they scrambled to find beds and oxygen tanks for the most critically ill among the patients.

Physically worn-out and emotionally drained by the sight of so much death and despair, the medical personnel at the hospital were immensely relieved to see military trucks roll in on Sept 15.

ATM forces pitching army tents at the Penang General Hospital’s designated car park area. (Hospital Medan ATM Pulau Pinang pic)

Under the watchful eye of Lt Kol Dr Mohd Zamri Derahman, 39, the army personnel of Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) set to work immediately, transforming the hospital’s car park area into a fully-functioning field hospital.

Mega tents were pitched while light fixtures and air conditioning units were installed at a frenzied pace. By Sept 24, the field hospital, now called Penang Medan Hospital, was ready to admit its first patient by nightfall.

A bird’s eye view of Penang Medan Hospital, Malaysia’s largest field hospital. (Hospital Medan ATM Pulau Pinang pic)

Shamesh says that for now, the field hospital will also accommodate non-Covid patients as most of the beds at the Penang General Hospital have been reserved for Covid-19 patients.

He explains that the hospital still receives a steady stream of patients seeking medical attention for other ailments as theirs is the only governmental specialist hospital in Penang.

“As the wards are limited to them, it’s an unfair situation when they have nowhere else to go,” he explains, adding that many patients can ill afford treatment at private hospitals.

He said the hospital’s current predicament prompted the idea of an army field hospital and with 100 beds, Hospital Medan Penang is the largest such hospital in Malaysia.

Equipped with 100 beds, Penang Medan Hospital is the largest army field hospital in Malaysia. (Shamesh Baskaran pic)

When asked how healthcare personnel have coped with the pandemic since March last year, Shamesh says it has been heart-wrenching to see so many patients admitted with symptoms, only to eventually give up the fight when the virus got too much to bear.

“Initially, there were many emotional situations, especially when we had to break bad news to family members,” Shamesh says, remembering one particularly heart-breaking scene when a daughter had to say goodbye to her bed-ridden mother in the ICU.

“Both of them cried on the video call,” he says, admitting his eyes welled-up as well.

Recently medics have been busy checking the inventory of medication and oxygen tanks in preparation for the flood of Covid-19 patients. (Shamesh Baskaran pic)

As one of the first ever frontliners on site at the Penang Medan Hospital, the past few days have been hectic for Shamesh and his team.

While the decreasing number of Covid-19 infections in Penang has given people hope that the end is near, Shamesh warns that it’s not time to let one’s guard down.

He says many of Penang’s senior citizens are still unvaccinated and that most of those admitted at the moment, are 60- to 70-year-olds who had not received their shots.

Penang Medan Hospital admitted its first Covid-19 patient the night of its completion on Sept 24. (Hospital Medan ATM Pulau Pinang pic)

He advises those still sceptical about getting vaccinated to seek medical advice as the decreasing number of cases in the country is proof that the vaccines do work.

“My advice to the general population is to please get your parents and yourself vaccinated as there are already walk-in centres everywhere,” he says.

For now, the struggle still goes on for healthcare personnel as they attend to the hundreds in their care infected with the coronavirus. - FMT