|
I was pleased to see the numerous positive feedbacks
praising the first issue of MEJEM. Some
of these comments are published in this
issue. In future issues I hope to see
readers comments, questions, and critiques
on articles published in the journal.
This issue of MEJEM has three interesting
articles on cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) , Takrouri and Seraj report on Arab
Resuscitation Council Guidelines. There
is an accompanying editorial on the topic
by Dr. Peter Baskett. An article by Baskett
on hospital cardiac arrest also appears
in this issue.
Reading these articles
brought back old memories of our effort to
start cardiopulmonary resuscitation in
Qatar in 1978. Some of those memories
appeared in my Chairman's Reflections in
our cardiovascular journal, Heart Views.
One patient died because a CPR-trained
nurse was not allowed to resuscitate the
patient (1). On another occasion, a lucky
cheese vendor arrested with ventricular
fibrillation and fell within two feet of
the defibrillator(2).
The article, Pediatric Asthma Hospitalization
Trends In The State of Qatar by AI-Marri
and Dawod is interesting. It shows that
the need for hospitalization of asthmatic
children in Qatar is decreasing. This
year locally in Qatar, we opened two new
satellite pediatric emergency centers
in two places outside the Capital in Al
Khor and in Al Wakrah. I am hopeful that
hospitalizations for asthma will decrease
further after the opening of these two
new pediatric emergency centers. Preliminary
statistics of the new centers revealed
that most of the children observed over
night were asthmatics.
The History of Major
Emergiencies In The State of Bahrain by
Hamza and Skerman is very interesting for
those who have special interest in the
history of medicine. It is unfortunate
that it was not possible for us in Qatar
to help our brothers in Bahrain with those
major emergencies. In this respect,
hopefully, this will change soon with the
building of a bridge between Qatar and
Bahrain.
We are very excited of the decision to build a bridge
between Qatar and Bahrain. Such a bridge
will not only make travelling between
Qatar and Bahrain fast and easy but also
between Qatar and Saudi Arabia through
Bahrain. In case of Major Emergencies in
Qatar, Bahrain, or Eastern Saudia Arabia,
we would be able to help each other better
and faster through the bridge. Emergency
health workers could rush through the
bridge to help. Our hospitals could
accommodate the overflow of patients from
the disaster area. The bridge will also
bring our regional hospitals together.
This is a dream that will become a reality
soon.
--HajarA. HajarAI-BinAli, MD, FACC.
Minister of Public Health
Managing Director, Hamad
Medical Corporation
Honorary Chairman of
Editorial Board
|
