Many stories are circulating these days about Cuban healthcare workers providing services to the poor people of Venezuela, who are now playing a leading role in caring for those affected by the earthquakes.
The Cuban collaborators at the Ludovico Silva Comprehensive Diagnostic Center (CDI) in the Santa Rosalía parish of the Capital District experienced hours of anguish with the double earthquake that, for the vast majority of them, they had never experienced before.
Yamila Coba Rondón, an intensive care nurse at the Northern Children’s Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, on the eastern tip of the island, was working her shift on the afternoon of June 24 when strong tremors shook Caracas and six other states in the country.
“We were providing our usual services and also assisted the entire affected population (women, children, and men), who flocked to the CDI that day,” he told Prensa Latina.
He emphasized that off-duty medical personnel immediately joined the effort and “together we got the job done,” triaging every patient as needed in collaboration with the center’s Venezuelan staff.
“Cubans and Venezuelans worked together all night and we’re still doing so,” as Prensa Latina witnessed with the arrival of a young man bitten by a dog while being rescued from under the rubble in La Guaira.
He noted that at that CDI, the most common conditions seen during those first anxious hours were patients with seizures, multiple traumas, hypertension, asthma attacks, and panic attacks.
The nurse from Santiago, with over 30 years of service, emphasized that children who should have been treated at the nearby pediatric clinic also arrived, but due to a power outage, they had to take them in and provide them with the necessary care.
“We treated all the children, from the pediatric level up, and the others who arrived at the Diagnostic Center,” she stated.
Commenting on the Cuban personnel’s response to the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes last Wednesday afternoon, Coba Rondón affirmed that “they responded as we know how.”
“The staff who were at home went to a safe place and immediately went to the CDI, which has a fairly new building,” she noted.
The nurse commented that since the 6.5 magnitude earthquake in 1967, the Cuban Medical Mission “had never experienced a situation like the one we are living through now,” but they are prepared to face it and “wherever we are called, we will be there.”
In a message to her family, friends, colleagues, and the people of Cuba, who remain anxiously awaiting news of the tragedy unfolding in Venezuela, the healthcare professional offered reassurance, stating, “We came here to serve, and for that, much more, and whatever is needed, because we are well-trained.”
Yamila considered Venezuelans “brothers and sisters to us, especially at this time.”
Leonardo Iguarán, an elderly patient admitted to the CDI (Comprehensive Diagnostic Center) and identified as “a bodyguard for the Minister for Indigenous Peoples,” acknowledged that the Cuban medical personnel immediately assisted his compatriots “as soon as they arrived” at the health center.
He praised the doctors’ work, saying, “It has been excellent, as always. They are very communicative with the patients, they take great care of them, and they are always there for them.”
He reminisced about his years of service as an officer in the Scientific, Criminal, and Forensic Investigations Corps (CICPC) and the mistreatment the wounded received when they were taken to hospitals. “They treated them badly and wouldn’t even let a family member in, telling them, ‘He can defend himself.’”
In contrast, he affirmed, “I’ve seen it firsthand, and now that I’m hospitalized, even more so. That’s why I vote ‘one hundred percent for them, for the Cubans and all their nursing staff.’”
“They treat you well, they take care of you, they go out of their way, they come to get you, they take you around, and they pamper you so much,” he emphasized.
He recounted that his son wanted to take him to a private clinic, but he wanted to stay at the CDI (Comprehensive Diagnostic Center) with his Cuban friends, and for that, he expressed “my infinite gratitude.”
This humble Venezuelan sent a message not only to those caring for him, but also to the hundreds working throughout Venezuela today, especially those in La Guaira: “Hey, I congratulate you all, you’re giving it your all (extremely hardworking, brave, and dedicated), as we say.”
“I know those people are giving it their all, putting in the effort, and I would ask them to keep going like this,” he praised.
“Long live Cuba and Venezuela, and let’s move forward!” emphasized this man of indigenous descent, who sees the Cuban men and women in white coats as an example to follow.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
