6th. October 2024 update: MIST is awaiting confirmation that it’s surgical teams will be both given permission to enter Gaza and be safe whilst there.
The number of team members has been effectively reduced by the latest directive and we await updates.
MIST teams worldwide are waiting for the go ahead.
MIST deployed to Gaza in July 2024, with logistical support from MAP, to provide surgical assistance at Al Aqsa Hospital in the Middle area of the Gaza Strip. At this juncture there were over 80,000 injured and over 38,000 dead.
Of those injured many had sustained bullet, blast and shrapnel injuries to their limbs. Al Aqsa Hospital had insufficient functional equipment or facilities to provide the orthopaedic care needed and the decision was made to move to Nasser Hospital..
Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis located in the south of the Gaza Strip had the required orthopaedic personnel, equipment and x-ray machines that are imperative for limb reconstruction and where our expertise could make a difference.
Working alongside the local Gazan teams, MIST was able to support their team members and advise on and form lines of communication for the patients’ follow-up and post operative care.
12 major cases were performed by MIST over 10 days at Nasser Hospital.
This young girl’s arm was severely damaged by shrapnel and amazingly her hand was still viable. The surgery involved shortening her arm achieving direct apposition of the bone ends and reconnecting the severed vessels and nerves; the external fixator used to maintain position whilst healing of the bone takes place.
With a lack of fully functioning hospitals, medical supplies, medical staff and facilities that we in the West take for granted, operating, treating and rehabilitating patients in this environment is challenging.
The Healthcare system in Gaza is in freefall as many of the previously available basic tenets to population health such as hospitals, medical staff, clean safe water, hygiene, medicines and equipment have been destroyed and their resupply blocked.
Without clean water, food and sanitation, the ‘Triangle of Death’ of Disease, Dehydration and Famine is now a reality for patients and the population as a whole which always leads to a significant higher mortality rate and one we observed on this trip.
MIST in conjunction with IMCCo, a Jordanian Medical Company, plans to assist through provision of mobile theatres and wards. The theatres will replace a small portion of the destroyed capacity for surgical care in Gaza and provide a sterile environment to operate on the injured.
