Brighton nurses answer cries for help

Lucy Pitt, Claire Cox and Kat Thomas, critical care nurses, along with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) consultant John Kilic, all from Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital, spent weeks caring for hundreds of refugees who fled war-torn countries.

Their talk on Thursday is part of refugee month activities which the Migrant and Refugee Solidarity @ University of Brighton group has organised.

Lucy said: “When we arrived we simply were not prepared for what we saw. As senior members of the Intensive Care Unit team we have all experienced difficult situations and trauma but this level of human suffering was shocking.

“There are 12-14,000 people at Idomeni and no facilities. About 10 toilets, no showers, nothing. It was cold and raining and people didn’t have shoes or warm clothes. They were wet, cold and sick with chest infections.

Smiles in the face of adversity: from left to right Kat Claire John and Lucy

Refugees queue for medications

“We saw between 300-500 people a day, working from the back of a Swedish ambulance. It was basic primary health care. We gave out antibiotics and paracetamol. We did not make any difference to the situation but on human level I think we made a massive difference. The people we met were the same as us. The refugees are the middle class educated people. We met doctors, lawyers, nurses, civil engineers.

“We met a family that were having their fourth baby. They had escaped Iraq after a car bomb exploded outside their house, causing a head injury to their 11-year-old son. He is OK physically now but wakes every night afraid and crying.

“Wasan (the mother) had had three previous c-sections so we knew she needed another one with her fourth. When we met her she was nine months pregnant. She had not seen a midwife or doctor. They were living in a crowded tent in a petrol station in the camp. We drove her 40Km to the nearest hospital to see a doctor.

“They made us wait for hours and then decided to book her operation the following week (after we had left), so they discharged her at midnight. We had to drop off a heavily-pregnant woman in the middle of the night at a freezing cold petrol station. Luckily, we were able to ask someone we had met to take her back to the hospital the following week. She had a baby girl and called her Sian after a paramedic who took her to hospital.

“We met lots of people who had their babies in tents with no support.

Lucy, who did her training and nursing degree at the University of Brighton, said: “I am ICU trained but I think the course that helped the most was the physical assessment module at the university. But really anyone could do the work in Greece – you just need compassion and kindness.

“The experience has changed my life.”

The talk will be in the Lecture Hall at the Audrey Emerton Building, opposite the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road, Brighton, 5pm-7pm on 26 May. All are welcome.

In response to the ongoing refugee crisis, the University of Brighton launched its Global Opportunities Scholarship fund. The fund, which has received generous donations from university staff, alumni and friends, will provide a long-term package of educational and vocational support to refugee students. This package of support will provide students who have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict with the opportunity to flourish, as they build a secure future for themselves and their communities through continued education.