Ambulance to Hospital
I am not sure that I can write the next part without sounding disparaging and derogatory. However, that is not the intent in anyway. I am trying to provide you with an image in your head, an appreciation, and understanding of the circumstances surrounding how the rest of this story plays out. I suspect that I may repeat and re-emphasise this from time to time.
Ambulance of the Public Health Services in Namibia (Click to go to source)
The ambulance arrived sometime after 18:00. It was already dark and torches were in use. The police helped transfer David into the ambulance, wished us well, and waved us off into the night.
The unofficial rule of not driving at night was fortunately dispensed with. The dangers accepted.
David was laid on the stretcher in the back with the nurse and I was in the cab with the driver. There was no more space in the back.
The ambulance did have some equipment cupboards but there was little equipment. I only have experience of UK Emergency ambulances to compare this one against. It was very different and somewhat sparse. Irrespective, it was still a very welcome sight.
We bumped out of the village of Bergsig and joined the road. It was still a corrugated dirt road but the situation was different. Somewhat uncomfortable. It is so much more difficult to drive on dirt roads with just the headlights to see by. Occasionally the dirt would become a short section of rock outcrop. A very different surface to drive on, which evoked a few sudden swerves.
I should point out that we British are very lucky in so far as there are so many places that we can go and find English speaking people. Perhaps in some countries it is understandable that the tourist industry and associated people speak what would be foreign language to them. We had left the tourist trail and were now in the hands of the local state health service. We were still able to communicate well in English. All credit to them.
It was not long before we drew to a sharp halt. The driver got out and inspected the vehicle. The drivers side steering rod had sheared. We were not going any further for the time being. The driver spoke to the nurse and then said he was going to call it in. It was pitch dark in the middle of the countryside. He could not get a mobile signal, so told us he would climb the hill / mountain beside the road to see if he could get a signal from the top. It is one thing going for a walk in the dark in a town, where it is never really dark and generally there are pavements. To go climbing up the uneven surface of the hillside in the very dark, lightless night, not knowing where the next footfall was going to take you, is a very different matter. All that before you consider the possibility of bumping into a wild animal or perhaps more than one. A brave man. After a while he returned not having made the call. Still no signal.
Was it the sound of the engine or the headlights which told of the approach of a vehicle? It turned out to be a pickup with a trailer sent by our car hire company to collect the wreck of our car. It was so rare for another vehicle to be out at night that they stopped for a conversation. They offered to take out driver back to the police station where communications would be better. Time for us was by now very indeterminate. How long it was between events I can't say. Eventually he returned and we waited for the replacement ambulance to arrive. We all sat in the back and waited and talked. The temperature had plummeted, which was a good thing. I have just checked the weather in Bergsig, today it is clear and sunny, a mear 41oC. The average November temperature day is 34oC and night 19oC. Recent night time temperature has been as low as 14oC. The cooler night time mountain temperature was less oppressive and draining than the earlier exposed daytime temperature. Every so often the driver would go back to the cab and run the engine for a while. The lights had to be left on both outside to ensure we could be seen, and inside the back for us to see. The battery would quickly drain if left on all night without some recharging.
After sometime the relief ambulance arrived. This time it was a Land Rover. I suspect I looked at my watch for the time, but in reality, for us, time had become indeterminate. Again, I was put in the front, with even less room in the back. David was transferred from the old to the new. We were ready to set off again.
The saga was not over yet. Still driving through the night. Only things visible were in the beams of the headlights. The ride was different being a different base vehicle, but the road was still corrugated dirt with occasional rock sections.
Another problem! This time it was fixable. A flat tyre. The driver soon had it changed and we were on our way again.
At the edge of the town the road turned to blacktop and the ride improved considerably. Five minutes later we arrived at Khorixas hospital.
It was after 1AM the next morning. About 13 hours after the accident. A little outside the golden survival hour mentioned in the UK.
This story is taken up again in the 1st Hospital.
