Saudi Arabia work experience
In 1996, Tony Carlisle, a member of the FBE clinical support group, spent 12 months working in the Biomedical Engineering Department of the King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah.
King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, JeddahKingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This was a fairly busy BME department, made up of several Saudi and several Philippino technicians. They supported both Clinical and Laboratory equipment throughout the hospital including the VIP and Royal suites. English was spoken by all staff in the hospital.One of the challenges Tony faced related to the relative isolation of some of the medical equipment support companies. Tony found that he had to to imrovise from time to time to get equipment back into service until proper replacement parts were obtained.
The weather can be very hot in Jeddah, during the summer months ie., close to 50C (June, July, August) and mild during winter ie., 25C. One of the benefits for Tony being in Jeddah, was scuba diving in the Red Sea on weekends. Tony did some of the best scuba diving he had done in the world.
Artistic traffic island
Tony enjoyed his experience living in this culturally different and rich environment, especially travelling through some of the interesting countryside.
Jeddah is located right on the coast of the Red Sea, mid-way along the western side of the country and is also the main sea port for the nation. Jeddah sees a lot of travellers visiting the nearby Holy city of Mecca.