VLIJTSEWEG, Netherlands – Whenever disaster strikes in poor areas of the world, it is likely that those regions lack basic healthcare facilities and hospitals. As a result, an already desperate situation will be aggravated since there is no sterile environment to treat patients. A company called Hospitainer has developed a mobile hospital to respond to this need.
Since 1996, Hospitainer has been reaching out to developing countries as well as the Western world with its innovative pseudo hospital. This hospital is packed with vital medical equipment necessary to perform operations like Caesarean Sections, a procedure that could save the lives of mothers and their children.
The organization offers two main types of hospitals: field hospital (field clinic) and mobile clinic. A field hospital, or field clinic, is designed to be a temporary solution until patients can be moved to a permanent healthcare facility. The other main type of hospital, the mobile clinic, is a healthcare facility that moves around to various impoverished communities offering medical and dental services.
In addition to disaster relief, Hospitainer also works in conflict zones. Recently, Hospitainer has been utilized in the Syrian conflict. The company is bringing its hospital to the devastated Syrian city of Homs and is working with Dorcas, Cordaid, the Syrian Red Cross, and the Syrian Ministry of Health to bring medical care to the violence-ridden country. Over half of Syria’s hospitals have been destroyed in the war and, of the remaining few, 30% do not have sufficient medical equipment. Hospitainer will be specifically bringing mobile hospitals to the city of Homs, where a majority of women and children have been displaced.
The Hospitainer is highly effective at bringing dental care, maternal and obstetric care, surgical care and diagnostics, sports massage, sterilization, pharmacy, research and communication to previously unreached or disaster struck areas all around the world. These facilities have saved thousands of lives and, despite their small size, are vital in the fight bring healthcare to the developing world.
– Mary Penn
Sources: Hospitainer, Dorcas
Photo: Hospitainer