Oman’s unsung heroes: the COVID warriors at Khoula Hospital

Muscat: On the occasion of Oman’s 51st National Day, Dr Adil Al Kharousi, head of Intensive Care Department and the director general of Khoula Hospital, has paid tribute to the medical practitioners who helped keep patients alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I won’t say it is easy, but we do it each time we are required to, and our skills are tested and improve each time we have new medical cases with new complications,” he said. “We try our best to make rules to provide a certain standard of management for people in our care.

“The COVID-19 pandemic – as we understand – is a new virus that affected the whole world. In keeping with our Ministry of Health guidelines, we attacked the disease very well, and we provided the best management we could for such cases,” he added. “We worked very hard, from the side of the experts, the doctors, the nurses, from the sides of the paramedics as well, and even from those involved in rehabilitation, such as physiotherapists, because COVID patients require a long time to mend.

“Even nutrition has a part to play in such cases,” Al Kharousi went on to add. “I am glad that we were able to look after them very well, and this shows that we can deal with such situations here in future as well. Working in an intensive care unit (ICU) is of course challenging, and needs a lot of efforts, skills, knowledge, and finally, teamwork.

“You cannot do the work that gets done there without the help of others, so each person in our intensive care department has a role, and we work together to provide the best service for patents in our ICU.”

“Our hospital has the largest ICU in the Sultanate of Oman, and it is definitely challenging for me to head this department, but I am supported by colleagues,” he went on to say. “To provide a good working environment, and a good standard of outcomes to patients, required good cooperation, knowledge, and skill from every expert involved.”