Healthcare Within a Humanitarian Crisis: Experiences from Gaza

(Healthcare Within a Humanitarian Crisis: Experiences from Gaza | University of Oxford Podcasts)

Mr Khaled Dawas shares his recent experiences of working in Gaza as a surgeon providing emergency care.

In this episode, Mr Khaled Dawas reflects on the targeting of health facilities and health workers during the conflict, the implications for medical education in Palestine and the role of global health students and practitioners world-wide.

The main lecture is delivered by Mr Dawas and will also feature perspectives of other health workers who have experiences of working in Gaza, including Dr Brenda Kelly (women's health doctor) and Dr Jane Crawley (paediatric doctor).

Mr Khaled Dawas is a consultant surgeon and associate professor at University College London Hospitals. He chairs the board of the medical education charity, Al Quds Foundation for Medical Schools in Palestine. He has been to Gaza twice with emergency medical teams since December 2023.

Dr Brenda Kelly is a consultant obstetrician who has also been to Gaza and is part of the Gaza Medical Teaching Group.

Dr Jane Crawley is a paediatrician who has worked in global child health for the past 30 years. As a member of the Oxford Gaza Group of clinicians, she has visited Gaza several times over the past 8 years in order to teach medical students and young doctors.

This talk is part of the Translational Science and Global Health course on the Translational Health Sciences programme.

White phosphorus burn

Photo: White phosphorus burn. Many lesions, with severe underlying destruction and necrosis in the right shoulder (A) and left leg (B). After 16 months of follow-up (C, D). Al Barqouni et al, 2010.

White phosphorus burn - The Lancet 

A Case Report  from Lancet medical journal details the horrific burns suffered by an 18-year-old male civilian during the Israeli attack on the occupied Palestinian territory during January 2009. The report is by Dr Loai Nabil Al Barqouni, Al Quds University, Abu-Deis, Jerusalem, oPt, and colleagues.


They conclude: "We cannot give an estimate of the number of such cases in our burns unit because it is in a war situation in which no formal recording was done; these burns are rarely encountered in practice and literature describing cases is limited. According to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, it is prohibited to make civilians the object of attack by incendiary weapons."

References:
1 Lisandro I. CBRNE—incendiary agents, white phosphorus. Aug 22, 2007. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833585-overview (accessed May 21, 2010).
2 Eldad A, Simon GA. The phosphorous burn—a preliminary comparative experimental study of various forms of treatment. Burns 1991; 17: 198–200.
3 Chou TD, Lee TW, Chen SL, et al. The management of white phosphorus burns. Burns 2001: 27: 492–97.
4 Davis KG. Acute management of white phosphorus burn. Mil Med 2002; 167: 83–84.

• Read more in Lancet 
  
  

  • Overview on White phosphorus 

  
  

  • Photos and Source: http://australiansforpalestine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/optcasereport.pdf 
  • References
    
    Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. Toxicological Profile for White Phosphorus. 1997. [Full Text].
    
    Geehr EC, Salluzzo RF. Dermal injuries and burns from hazardous materials. In: Sullivan JB Jr,Krieger GR. Hazardous Materials Toxicology, Clinical Principles of Environmental Health. Williams and Wilkins; 1992:415-424.
    
    Harbison RD. Phosphorus. In: Harbison RD. Hamilton and Hardy's Industrial Toxicology. 5th ed. Mosby Yearbook; 1998:194-7.
    
    Konjoyan TR. White phosphorus burns: case report and literature review. Mil Med. Nov 1983;148(11):881-4. [Medline].
    
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    Pande TK, Pandey S. White phosphorus poisoning--explosive encounter. J Assoc Physicians India. Mar 2004;52:249-50. [Medline].
    
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    Summerlin WT, Walder AI, Moncrief JA. White phosphorus burns and massive hemolysis. J Trauma. May 1967;7(3):476-84. [Medline].