Bangkok: \"Look at me, stay with us,\" the paramedics shout as a barely conscious motorcyclist is bundled into a volunteer ambulance in the Laotian capital Vientiane, where rampant drink driving brings nightly carnage to the roads. It is a grim scene familiar the world over. \r\nBut in Laos, an impoverished and authoritarian communist country with almost no state-funded medical services, these kind of vital lifesavers are volunteers and entirely funded by donations. By the time the crew arrive at a nearby hospital, the Japanese donated ambulance - a right hand drive vehicle in a left hand drive nation - has picked up 2 more injured on the way. Fresh calls for help are coming in all the time. |
