Constructed in six months. Anaesthesia is mainly given by anaesthesia nurses who have a 12-18 month course. An oxygen concentrator is available. Ketamine drips are sometimes used but recovery can be delayed as the nurses do not always accurately count the rate of the drops. Disposable endotracheal tubes are cleaned and re-used.
Analgesics are difficult to obtain, pentazocine being the strongest available.
Much of the equipment has been salvaged from the UK and carried out by international staff. Perhaps the most important thing I have done on my visits to Kurdistan is to impress on all the anaesthetic nurses the importance of checking the sucker, the oxygen, the equipment, the drugs and the patient before starting the a naesthetic. I formed half of the Appointments Committee which appointed 3 surgeons for the Erbyl Emergency Hospital. I am grateful to all my Kurdish friends and colleagues for their kindness and help on my visits and for all the enthusiasm of the anaesthesia nurses, without which I could have accomplished nothing.