The events of 9/11 made this Kashmiri doctor change his career and learn disaster rescue. He learned flying too. Syed Asma talks to Sohail Nasti, a man who is in a process of changing the way Kashmir’s healthcare sectors responds to disasters
Sohail is practising a rare combination. He is working as a disaster medical specialist and has the distinction of being the first rescue pilot from Jammu and Kashmir.
Born in Islamabad in south Kashmir, Sohail has completed did his graduation from Srinagar’s Jhelum Valley College. After completing his graduation he started practicing medicine in the valley.
“Though, I served the people in far flung areas but somehow I was not satisfied with what I was doing. Besides, I wasn’t satisfied with the health system in Kashmir,” says Dr (capt) Sohail Nasti.
Coming from a family of 32 doctors, Sohail says, he wanted to do more than prescribing medicines to patients.
So, he thought of going into research and as a rheumatologist he picked up a topic, ‘post traumatic disorder and inflammatory diseases’. He sent a synopsis to the University of Chicago and after a series of examinations he got through. He started working on the topic in 2003. The research took him two years and he finally got a degree in Rheumatologic Clinical Practices.
Later, he went for another specialised degree in Rheumatology from UK, a musculoskeletal arthroscopy degree from Germany and a PG Rheumatology from Prague.
While studying the subject he was made to work in places hit by natural disasters. “I visited the tsunami hit places besides, Pakistan, Japan and Haiti after they were hit by earthquake.”
Though while studying, he says, he learnt a lot about disaster management but he wanted to have a formal training in it. Likewise, he decided to study disaster medicine and become a rescue pilot. He went to London and did a couple of courses – PGDS in Conflict and Disaster Medicine, a short course in disaster survival programmes in Territorial Army, certificate in ELS, and a diploma in Business Management and Entrepreneurship.
“Being a medical specialist, a pilot and trained to manage disasters, you are a perfect choice to work in any place in the world which is hit by a disaster or is a conflict ridden place,” believes Sohail.
He never planned to become a rescue pilot but, he says, the incident of 9/11 made him to think this way.
“After 9/11, we all know how Muslims were looked upon in the world, especially in the West. So, I chose to do my bit and I switched over my profession,” says Sohail, “I wanted to pursue a job which would clear the maligned image of Muslims across the globe and I could not find a better job than this.”
Having worked with American Marines and United Nations, Sohail is now working as a consultant to humanitarian agencies and a consultant in disaster preparedness. Besides he authored a book and is invited to different universities to deliver lectures regarding the same [disaster preparedness].
Sohail also runs an NGO, ‘Mother Helpage’. He says, it was he was who suggested putting a security check for the Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Haiti.
“I don’t know how I got this idea but on checking the ground situation we found it important to establish filtration camps in there,” says Sohail. “We found any place hit by conflict or disaster is more prone to trafficking of drugs, guns and even trafficking of humans. Our gate keeping helped a lot to put many things at a right place.”
In 1994, after Sohail lost his mother, he started an NGO. “The trauma of her death stayed with me for a long time,” Sohail remembers. His mother died of brain haemorrhage at the age of 41. “After her death, I think I could relate more with people’s pain.”
In 1994, when he was still a student, Sohail could not do much and the NGO was shelved briefly.
The same was re-launched after Sohail came to Chicago. Currently his NGO works in at least 20 countries, with its main office stationed in London. NGO’s work is divided into two sectors: emergency and development sector. Gaza, Syria and some parts of Africa cover their emergency sectors while developmental programs are run in countries like Albania, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other parts of Africa.
In 1994, he used to distribute food in curfew ridden areas and organise small medical camps.
More than two decades later, before the September 2014 floods, he came back and offered the state government that he will train the state policemen in disaster preparedness, but they did not agree.
“I thought it is the time to serve my own people but somehow the proposal didn’t go through and then we were hit by worst kinds of floods,” says Sohail.
“After the valley was inundated in flood waters,” Sohail says, “I wished to get in helicopters for the rescue operations in the Valley but for security reasons it wasn’t allowed.”
So, he chose to operate from Delhi and send relief to Kashmir for almost two weeks. After that he moved in here and apart from distributing relief and arranging temporary shelters, he hired a couple of land movers to clear roads in Pulwama, Shopian and Tral which were cut-off from the rest of the Valley.
He says, he is interested to work in Kashmir and a few projects are in the pipeline. With state governments help, Sohial is planning to launch a project to improve the overall health care in Kashmir. “We are planning to keep one critical care ambulance in the radius of 100 Kms,” shares Sohail. “It is a public-private partnership and I would be providing the ambulances including ventilators and other critical care facilities, worth Rs 25-30 Lakh and the state is supposed to provide a doctor, nurse and a driver.”
Initially, Sohail will start with only two ambulances and seeing the response and the impact will increase the supply. He says he wants to bring positive change in the health care system.
When asked if Kashmir’s ailing health care sector can be changed at all, he replies with a laughter and said, “Since the day I learnt to fly a plane, I seriously have a belief that anything is possible.”
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