MAKKAH: The medical team of the Pilgrims’ Fund Board (TH) established a field medical team in Muzdalifah during the operation in Masyair later, in an effort to provide immediate treatment services to sick pilgrims with limited resources available there.
The Malaysian Hajj Group (Medical) deputy head Dr Abdul Marsudi Manah said it is different from the situation in Arafah where pilgrims can get more comfortable treatment services because they have better facilities such as tents.
“For Muzdalifah, we have a ‘combat madson’ medical team or a medical team with the concept of field treatment which means we will give treatment with what is there.
“For example, if we want to put the patient to sleep (intubate) in a hospital, we need a bed and other items, but in Muzdalifah it’s different because there the patient is lying on the sand, that’s where we will intubate,“ he told the media at TH headquarters here, recently.
At the same time, he said health workers were also given training to provide treatment services without affecting or violating the prohibition of ihram for pilgrims.
“When giving treatment, the officer needs to remember that the pilgrims are in ihram, so for example if they want to install a drip, the officer administering it cannot use plaster because if the hair is pulled out, they have to pay a fee,“ he said.
He also described the operation in Masyair later as a critical and challenging phase for 278 health workers to ensure that all 31,600 pilgrims are in a healthy condition for wukuf in Arafah, which is the culmination of the Hajj.
At the same time, he said the medical team was also ready with the Wukuf Safari Programme which is a service to bring sick pilgrims who are being treated at the TH Medical Centre in Makkah to the wukuf in Arafah Plain.
“We will prepare the pilgrims for wukuf in Arafah for a while by boarding a special vehicle provided either a bus or an ambulance and after performing wukuf in Arafah, we will take them back to the TH Treatment Centre,“ he said.
Wukuf on the ninth day of Dhul-Hijjah which falls on June 15th, means to stop and be on the soil of Arafah for a while or even a few moments under any circumstances as it is the second pillar of the Hajj.
