WHO training on mass casualty management could have saved a quarter of the lives lost in Sudan ...

23 April 2023 – More than 420 deaths and 3700 injuries have been reported by the Federal Ministry of Health since the escalation of violence erupted in Sudan on 15 April – but paramedics, frontline nurses and doctors are often unable to access injured civilians, because of insecurity and attacks on ambulances and health facilities. The Federal Ministry of Health also reported 20 hospitals as no longer functional and 12 others at risk due to lack of medical supplies and health care workers. WHO has already distributed life-saving emergency supplies and fuel to major hospitals, but more widespread distributions are constrained by the volatile security situation. We are on standby for the first opportunity to assist without compromising the safety of our staff in an increasingly hazardous environment to humanitarian workers. Prior to the escalation, WHO’s Regional Trauma Initiative had been working with the WHO Country Office in Sudan to establish a cadre of leading health care professionals trained and equipped on mass casualty management. Efforts were kicked off last year, when a team of trauma specialists from WHO’s Regional Office were deployed to Sudan to work in multiple states across the country, including Khartoum, Blue Nile and Al Ganeina. Over 30 frontline doctors were trained on mass casualty principles and equipped to become national instructors; they further cascaded the training to over 150 frontline health workers in 2022 and 60 more in 2...
Source: WHO EMRO News - Category: Middle East Health Source Type: news