应对战区的健康危机
复杂的紧急情况通常发展迅速, 是由飓风之类的动荡引发的, 森林大火, 和战争. 当这些灾难迫使人们离开一个地区时, 80年代的亚当·基恩经常往相反的方向走, moving toward the crisis to bring health resources to people who are displaced or left behind.
Adam Keehn’80 is director of complex humanitarian emergencies for Americares, a health-focused relief 和 development organization that has been responding to people affected by poverty or disasters for 更多的 than 40 years.
In early April, he was catching his breath for a few days at home in Portl和, Ore., after spending several weeks on Ukraine’s Polish 和罗马尼亚n borders. 他带领一支美国队, delivering medicines 和 medical supplies to Ukrainians during the Russian invasion.
“首先也是最重要的, we’ve been working on shipping medicines 和 supplies to 医院 和 clinics throughout the country,Keehn说. “这让我们很忙，但我们想做得更多.”
在入侵后的头两个月, Americares shipped 30 tons of medicine 和 medical supplies valued at over $4 million to Ukraine. 美国人也获得了近500美元的奖金,向在乌克兰运作的18个组织提供赠款, 波兰, 和罗马尼亚, including many local organizations supporting millions of fleeing refugees.
Americares has a broader scope of providing medical supplies to clinics, 医院, 健康中心, both internationally 和 as a safety net for Americans without access to healthcare. 基恩和他的团队, 然而, 直接关注紧急情况, 比如去年夏天西海岸的野火, 持续的叙利亚人道主义危机, 现在是乌克兰人迫切的医疗需求.
在2018年加入美国航空之前, 基恩已经有25年从事人道主义工作的经验, 包括担任救助儿童会飓风小组组长.
在乌克兰, Keehn says that 医院 和 clinics desperately need medicines 和 supplies after they’ve been under siege 和 had their supply chains broken. On top of those intense needs is a refugee crisis of staggering proportions with its own health care dimensions. Keehn explains that people fleeing their homes often leave everything behind, 包括基础知识, 比如处方药.
来源:Mike Demas/Americares
He says this problem came into stark focus one day at a train station in Krakow, 波兰. 当大量的人流穿过车站时, Keehn’s colleagues met an elderly Ukrainian man who was running low on his medications.
“He had a chronic heart condition 和 he explained to a doctor on our staff that this was his last supply of medication,Keehn说. “She noticed his swollen ankles, which was an indication his health condition was worsening. This brought home the importance of not only urgent medicines for wound treatment 和 trauma care but also chronic health conditions like diabetes, 心脏病, 高血压——需要持续治疗的疾病, 常规的药物.”
People who have endured the trauma of war also need specialized mental health care. “We’re providing technical support 和 funding to local organizations that work on what we call ‘psychological first aid’ or other types of psychosocial support to people going through the stresses of displacement他说。, “as well as to the staff of front-line responders who suffer from burnout 和 vicarious trauma.”
Keehn has witnessed a great deal during a career that started in Mali with the Peace Corps shortly after 贝洛伊特, 之后为救助儿童会服务多年. 他曾参与研究21世纪初埃塞俄比亚的粮食危机, 自从加入美国以来, 关注叙利亚危机, 也门, 孟加拉国, 和其他地方.
He thinks the situation in Ukraine is different in one significant way — displaced Ukrainians are receiving a warm welcome from most Europeans 和 their countries. 例如, the Romanian 和 Polish governments are extending their national health systems’ coverage 和 public education to Ukrainian refugees 和 their families, 他说. This often has not been the case for refugees from many other parts of the world.
然而，被迫流离失所的个人创伤是普遍存在的. “我从情感和心理上思考, 不管人们从哪里来，影响都是一样的.”
基恩在国际上的成长经历帮助他形成了自己的观点. 他和他哥哥一样出生在印度, 大卫·基恩(David Keehn, 1977), 当他们的父亲是美国总统时，他们一家住在非洲南部.S. Agency for International Development representative in Zambia 和 in Zimbabwe, 当时被称为南罗得西亚.
“That sort of planted the seed in all of us that the world is a big place, 我们在美国的情况也很好.S.他说。.
在伯洛伊特大学，基恩主修双学位 法国 和 英语 和 在国外学习 在法国. 而和平队激发了他对人道主义工作的兴趣, 他说 his facility with 法国 was a key factor in advancing his career, 尤其是在西非的法语国家. He later earned a master’s degree in adult education 和 community development at Cornell University.
Keehn advises students interested in humanitarian work today to consider developing practical skills.
“我认为旅行, 语言, 谦卑, 同理心是很重要的特质, 但归根结底，人们想要的是解决问题的切实可行的办法他说。. “有公共卫生背景的人非常抢手, 和 so are nurses 和 doctors who are willing to put those skills to use in other parts of the world.”
As dire as the situation is in Ukraine 和 other parts of the world right now, Keehn在一些地方找到了鼓励. One is the overall advancement of access to education 和 health care across the globe; another is that most of the world is st和ing up against the travesty unfolding in Ukraine.
“毫无疑问，乌克兰发生的事情是残暴的, 它给数百万人带来了痛苦他说。. “But we see an outpouring of support for Ukraine 和 the widespread vilification of the Russian attack. To me, that’s a hopeful sign that people realize this is not acceptable.”
从他独特的视角来看, 他也能认出, 甚至量化, progress toward his organization’s goal of addressing the current critical health care needs in Ukraine.
“I remind myself that in this area — health — we are moving medicines 和 supplies into places where people don’t have access to them他说。. “It’s easy to see progress in a situation like this when you have X number of tons of supplies flowing across the border to 医院 that desperately need them. 你可以感觉很好.”
