VOA标准英语2013--Syrian, American Doctors Skype in Chemical Weapons 'Situation Room'

 

Syrian, American Doctors Skype in Chemical Weapons 'Situation Room'

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA — A group of Syrian-American doctors had anticipated a major chemical weapons attack in Syria and was planning for ways to help the victims. But they were unprepared for the enormity of the August 21 massacre¹ during which the U.S. estimates more than 1,400 people were killed.

Now, their meetings in Fort Wayne, Indiana, focus on preparation for future attacks. 

现在,他们的会议在印第安纳州韦恩堡,关注未来的袭击做准备。

They meet in a “Chemical Weapons Situation Room” in a place you’d least likely expect to find it.

To get to its location, you have to drive up to a suburban² American house. Go inside, and down to the family basement. There you will find a the "situation room" where the doctors meet and speak only in Arabic via Skype.

The 33 doctors that join the call are in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Turkey. Three doctors are inside Syria.  Two are in the Damascus suburbs where the attacks took place, and one is in Aleppo.

Dr. Ammar Ghanem, who leads the meetings, says they are discussing building chemical weapons treatment centers and protecting medical personnel from future attacks.  

Sixty-five people died at Dr. Majd's hospital in the August 21 chemical attack.  To treat future victims, he says the centers would be made up of multiple buildings, each specializing in different conditions, and would be built underground.

The doctors use nicknames for security reasons.  A doctor who calls himself "Chemical Hazam" joins the session from Aleppo. The group considers him its chemical weapons expert.  He says they need a decontamination tent at the entrance to the centers.

“We receive war-injured people" he said. "So we don't want the hospital to be contaminated with a chemical agent, and we know decontamination is the first step in treating people.”

The group discusses the three centers to be built.  The doctors in Syria want more.  The U.S.-based doctors ask if they are able to staff that many.

Ghanem says the group planned how to help if there were a major chemical attack, but not soon enough.

“With all the difficulty we have, especially with logistics, it's hard to get equipment and medical supplies inside,” he said.

And there’s a never-ending need for donations.  American doctors collect supplies with the help of assistants. The staff drives them to a Detroit warehouse³ where volunteers box them so they can be shipped to the Mediterranean⁴ and smuggled⁵ into Syria.

But the one item needed most - chemical protection suits - is not part of this shipment, says Hazam.  

“We tried to look for it in Turkey. We asked France. I think they also asked the United States, and no one would help us with such equipment,” he said.

Doctors say 900 more people could have been saved in August if they had had chemical protection gear and sarin antidotes⁶. Neither is available in Syria. 

1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

6 antidotes   

解药( antidote的名词复数 )； 解毒剂； 对抗手段； 除害物

参考例句：

• Treatment involves giving antidotes that Bind the lead in the tissues. 治疗办法有用解毒剂，它会与组织中的铅结合而把它驱逐出去。
• With Spleen Qi, heat antidotes, such as cough Runfei effectiveness. 具有补脾益气、清热解毒、润肺止咳等功效。