Jihan al-Basha had to use public transportation to reach al-Zahrawi Hospital in the capital, Damascus, to give birth. Her relatives called to request an ambulance, only to be informed that the vehicle was out of service.

Shadia al-Zoubi also had to transport her infant son using public transportation from al-Zahrawi Hospital to al-Mujtahid Hospital for treatment.

Al-Zahrawi Hospital, which specializes in obstetrics and gynecology, is facing a severe shortage of ambulances, having only two: one that is permanently out of service and requires maintenance, and the other that only operates with manual assistance.

The hospital is under the Syrian Ministry of Health.

Complaints and lack of response

Ambulances at al-Zahrawi Hospital have not undergone regular maintenance since 2011, according to the ambulance driver, Akram Shaqir.

Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Omar, the head of the hospital’s garage, complained to Enab Baladi about a lack of drivers and the lack of response from the Health Directorate to the hospital’s complaints.

Al-Omar explained that one of the ambulances broke down last year, while the second one works only with manual effort due to a weakened engine that requires immediate maintenance before it breaks down completely.

He revealed that one of the vans used by the hospital for transporting medical supplies was stolen on the day the regime fell, December 8, 2024.

The hospital’s garage management has sent two letters to the Health Directorate since the regime fell, with another letter sent about a week ago, but there has been no response.

Ambulance relying on fast response

Al-Zahrawi Hospital resorts to the Ministry of Health‘s garage when there is a need to transport medical supplies, and in emergencies, it depends on fast response teams or the Red Crescent’s vehicles.

Dr. Nidal Yassin Muftah, the director of al-Zahrawi Hospital, told Enab Baladi that the problem lies in transferring cases that cannot be treated at the hospital and need to be taken to specialized hospitals.

Some women face complications during or after childbirth, such as hypertension and brain bleeding, or neurological surgery post-delivery, which necessitates their immediate transfer to specialized hospitals, according to Muftah.

The hospital also suffers from a shortage of incubators for newborns, so when a newborn needs an incubator, they must be transported to another hospital, which urgently requires an ambulance, as per Muftah.

He mentioned that he had repeatedly requested the Ministry of Health and its directorate to provide ambulances for the hospital or to maintain them, as well as vehicles for transporting medicines and medical supplies, but the ministry has not responded due to its limited capabilities.

Shortage of supplies

Hospitals in the capital, Damascus, are severely lacking in emergency supplies, causing strife between families and doctors, leading families to secure consumables at their own expense, such as IV drips and syringes.

With an increasing number of patients, medical staff in the hospital’s emergency department find themselves forced to prioritize cases, deciding to treat the more critical cases first, followed by moderately serious and then less urgent cases.

The crisis has been exacerbated by a lack of support during the previous regime, along with many broken or non-operational devices and the lack of medication.

Earlier, Abdel Rahman Aqbiq, the head of the rapid response team at al-Mowasat University Hospital, told Enab Baladi that the shortage was not new and had existed since the era of the previous regime, but it intensified after its fall.

He explained that this shortage is due to poor management of medical supplies and essential materials during the previous regime, along with a long history of theft and looting over the years.