The French Stethoscope

That morning of my departure for Colombo, as I was finishing packing, my nurse Patricia, came to me. She was very tired and very depressed. She needed a break very badly. I really wasn’t very tired and I was not depressed at all. I was in much better shape than her! She was the one that really needed to go to Colombo, not me. It only took me a few seconds to think it over. I was the team leader here. I was the one that was responsible for my nurses and for their well being. I could not go to Colombo, have fun and leave Patricia working here. I decided to have her take my place and go to Colombo instead of me. Her eyes that were so sad but suddenly, they sparkled with hope as I told her my decision: “Really, Chris, are you sure? What about you, your break and your Norwegian diplomat?” I told her I would go on a break a month later, no big deal. She came to me and hugged me with joy. “Thank you so much, Chris! You won’t regret it!” Ironic words, when you know the future… A few minutes later, she had gathered all her clothes, probably afraid I was going to change my mind. Half an hour later, I was seeing her, our visitor Ob-Gyn, his wife and our driver off toward East. Patricia sat on the front seat. I waved at her. She had a big smile on her face. I proceeded to unpack and get ready to go to clinic. As I was about to leave, about 45 minutes after Patricia had left, I heard bombing starting again. They seemed so close and were coming from East. I went to the car and turned on the radio for an additional radio contact to Colombo. That when I heard…. It was Patricia’s voice: “Colombo or Madhu or anybody else, please answer me, we are bombarded by the army, please somebody answer, please somebody stop this! Help! Help!” I answered quickly. “Patricia, this is Chris, what is happening?” Patricia: “2 helicopters from the army are over us and are shooting at us. There is a plane coming towards us, oh, Chris I am so scared, it is… oh, no, it is bombarding. Me: “Stay calm, Patricia, we have a big sign on the roof of our car that says we are Doctors without Borders. The army should recognize our vehicle and not attack us. I’ll try to contact Colombo. Colombo! Colombo! Are you there? Colombo, Colombo, this is an emergency, Colombo, Colombo!!” I knew we had a white flag in the vehicle. MSF’s recommendations in case anything like this would happen, was to grab this flag, get out of the vehicle and wave it at whoever was attacking us. Was that the right thing to do? I was wondering. It could be dangerous too. Nobody in Colombo was answering. This was not a usual time for our communications. I knew how the radio was set up in Colombo. It was in the main office. Their radio was on at all times but there was somebody close to it only part of the time. Our radio transmission was set to be 3 times a day but in between, there was not automatically somebody there in the office and right now, nobody was answering. I was the only one on the air. I could hear planes and shootings coming from East. They sounded so close. Patricia’s vehicle was not far away from here. I started shivering. The army should really not attack us. Our Doctors without Borders sign is painted on the roof of all our vehicles. It is so big. It is so easy to see it and recognize it from the air! Why are they attacking us? I couldn’t understand. I had to think fast. Patricia was panicking. I was the only one on the radio to help her. I decided to stick with the Doctors without borders guidelines. Me: “Patricia, our guidelines are to grab the white flag, get out of the car and waive it at the people attacking. Can you find the flag?” Patricia: “Yes, here it is. I found it. Chris I am so scared! Oh, my god, they are coming back!” Me: “Patricia, get out of the car and waive the flag!” Patricia: “O.K.” I heard more shootings and bombings. Then silence. Me: “Patricia, are you O.K.? Can you hear me?” No answer. 10 minutes later, Patricia’s voice: Patricia crying: “Chris, I am bleeding, Chris, please, come and save me. Chris, I got out of the car and I waived the white flag but they still shot at me. I got shot in the leg. It hurts so much and I am bleeding so much. Oh, my god, they are coming back, I need to run.” I heard more shooting and bombings. Nobody came on the radio anymore. I had to think fast. Patricia’s vehicle was not far away, maybe only 20 miles away. I should take my vehicle to get her. But no, it would be too dangerous and my vehicle too could get attacked. I had to find a way to contact Colombo. They had to intervene. But what about Patricia, how badly was she injured? She needed help and medical care as soon as possible. I tried calling Colombo again. “Colombo, Colombo, anybody there?”