A SAUDI HOSPITAL IN THE EMPTY QUARTERS

An exceptional Respiratory Therapist's personal experience of living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

By: D. Walkaboutdude Moss

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

About the book A Saudi Hospital in the Empty Quarters.
It became a tradition. People from the desert would come to visit their loved ones in our ICU, carrying weapons and ammunition. Confused, they would ask why they had to leave their guns at the door, and our guards would have to explain. Eventually, we put up a sign at the entrance, but it didn't help much as most of them couldn't read.
In the early 1990s, I joined a medical team at a new hospital in Saudi Arabia. The country was closed off to foreigners and had strict cultural norms. We faced the challenge of integrating two vastly different cultures while providing medical care to a population that had only recently lived in tents.
Bridging the gap between understanding was a daily struggle, and our survival depended on maintaining patience, sanity, and a sense of humor.
Welcome to Saudi Arabia in 1991, a nation caught between old traditions and modernization.


Dresden Walkaboutdude Moss’s experience living in the Middle East began with the first US invasion of Iraq in 1990. He made two contracts in Saudi Arabia, one setting up a new hospital in a remote town and another running a department during the terrorist attacks in Riyadh in 2002. When he was not helping the Saudi population, he explored the country and history and visited with locals to understand a culture unavailable to outsiders. He sometimes witnessed shocking events and felt the peril ex-pats faced each day. He has written two books based on his diaries.