This is the story of pharmacists from Głuchołazy – one of the first towns destroyed by the flood. They have no water, no way to clean their premises, but they fight for medicines for their patients. Many lost them in the flood, and for them it is a matter of health, and sometimes even life.
In Głuchołazy, although six days have passed since the disaster, the situation is still dramatic – primarily because there is no running water.
– Look at the floor. There must be sludge under the cabinets, because we didn't uncover it – says Katarzyna Gala, a pharmacist from the Lekfarm Health Center in Głuchołazy. – We collected the water that was splashing in buckets. Once we had collected the water, we started removing the sludge and then we washed the pharmacy, unfortunately, with this dirty water – she says.
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Ruined Głuchołazy, major cleanup underway. Report by TVN24 reporter TVN24
The premises had to be washed to be able to serve patients. The needs are huge, because the flood also took away people's medicines. Pharmacists were well aware of this, so they undertook to open their points immediately after the water subsided.
There was half a meter of water in the “Przyjazna” pharmacy, and the losses are estimated in tens of thousands of zlotys.
– Even the medicines that we had secured somewhere, we put them on plastic trunks, in cardboard boxes, the current of the water was so strong that it overturned everything, so some of the medicines that we had put higher up could not be saved – says Patrycja Kocoń, a pharmacist from the “Przyjazna” pharmacy in Głuchołazy.
Ministry of Health: 10 pharmacies were flooded or submerged
Some pharmacists tried to open pharmacies on Monday, the day after the great wave. At that time, not only was there no water, but there was no electricity either.
– We supplied ourselves with electricity by starting a generator, which we managed to get. The light in the pharmacy is from a halogen lamp, which I took from home – informs Marcin Gala, a pharmacist from the St. Francis Pharmacy in Głuchołazy.
– First of all, people who came to us had lost all their medications, their entire life's work in general. These were medications that lower blood pressure. A lot of people who needed antidiabetic medications – Katarzyna Gala points out.
The Ministry of Health estimates that 10 pharmacies in the Lower Silesian and Opole provinces have been flooded or submerged. Another twenty are closed because owners and employees are saving their cities and homes.
– We try to help at any time, we are in constant contact with pharmacists. They report a lack of water, they report a lack of cleaning products, because, unfortunately, the city is still cut off from water – says Michał Kachnic from the Supreme Pharmaceutical Council.
The city authorities confirm: it is still bad. – Here, the most important information, determining all other actions, is the fact that the main water intake has been destroyed – says the mayor of Głuchołazy, Paweł Szymkowicz.
At present, actions are being taken to connect the water supply network to alternative water sources as soon as possible.
Main image source: TVN24