ICRC trains 50 workers on treatment of casualties

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health has commenced the training of nearly 50 surgeons and health care professionals in Abuja on surgical skills management. The three day surgical skills seminar for the management of weapon wounded casualties which started yesterday at Rockview Hotel seeks to equip participants with the capacity to handle injuries resulting from weapons such as guns and bomb blasts. Speaking during the opening ceremony yesterday, ICRC Head of Delegation in Nigeria, Mr. Eloi Fillion, said: “As armed conflict and violence in Nigeria has become more complex, we now see injuries caused by a range of weapons, from machetes and dane guns to explosive devices. “There are also more weapon–related causalities coming into hospitals. This demands a certain level of expertise and skill to save lives, which this seminar will provide,” he said. The training is being facilitated by two ICRC experts in the area of surgery and trauma management, Dr. Khurshid Iqbal from India and Dr Marco Pinna Pintor from Italy. Giving his opening remarks, the Deputy Head of Delegation, ICRC Nigeria, Myriam El Kholi, said statistics indicate that more than 1,500 deaths were recorded in 2017 from explosives alone with 66% of these deaths said to be civilians. This, according to him is not taking into account the deaths caused by weapons such as machetes, guns and mines. “The armed conflict in the North East and violence in the middle Belt and Niger Delta states has left millions in a state of dire humanitarian need. One of the most obvious results of these crises is the state of the health care system. “In the North east where access to health care has not always been a strong point, the armed conflict has in some areas made it a near impossibility or a process wrought with challenges of security. The evolution of weapons and its use in the crises has also constituted a challenge to health care as hospitals have been shut down and staff evacuated in a bid to preserve life,” he said