Herat/Kabul (ICRC), 27 November 2007
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started today in Herat the second round of the war surgery 3-day seminar for 30 surgeons from Western Afghanistan. The first seminar took place in Mazar-i-Sharif from 19 to 21 November and gathered 22 surgeons from northern region.
"War surgery is different from civilian surgery because of the gross contamination of the wounds and large number of wounded people that arrive simultaneously", stated Dr. Ken Barrand. The seminars tackle issues of war wound management, triage, care of fractures, amputations decisions and other areas in which war surgery differs from civilian trauma. The sessions are animated by two ICRC war surgeons.
"We are sharing with them our experience as ICRC war surgeons, particularly promoting simple solutions for hospitals in which there might not be much equipment, drugs or staff. At the same time, simple techniques have also fewer complications than higher ones", added Dr. Julio Vidal.
Early this year, in June, Dr. Ken Barrand, conducted similar seminars for surgeons from Eastern and Southern Afghanistan.
The ICRC is working in Afghanistan since 1987 providing medical and surgical assistance to the war-wounded and civilian victims of the armed conflict. Recalling the right of every war wounded to receive medical assistance and in line with its humanitarian action, the ICRC provides emergency surgical material for first-aid and pre-hospital care for war wounded in remote areas of Afghanistan, where other health structures are not available.
For further information, please contact:
Graziella Leite Piccolo, ICRC Kabul, tel. +93700 282 719
Mohammed Qasem Hilaman, ICRC Kabul, tel. +93 0799 339 461
Carla Haddad, ICRC Geneva, tel. +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26
or visit our website: www.icrc.org