{"id":10053,"date":"2024-04-07T13:21:53","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T13:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/?p=10053"},"modified":"2024-04-07T13:22:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T13:22:14","slug":"reusing-scalpels-operating-with-no-anaesthesia-a-doctors-diary-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/reusing-scalpels-operating-with-no-anaesthesia-a-doctors-diary-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Reusing scalpels, operating with no anaesthesia: A doctor\u2019s diary in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Gaza today, scalpel blades have to be reused in surgeries, but that results in them becoming too blunt to do what they are supposed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Gaza today, medics often carry out surgical procedures without pain control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Gaza today, nearly all patients suffer from malnutrition, so their wounds do not heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The infection rate among patients is \u201cbeyond imagination\u201d, Dr Riyadh Almasharqah, 54, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plastic and reconstructive surgeon said instruments are rarely sterilised, and patients usually stay in overcrowded wards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is all a result of a siege imposed by Israel, which has severely limited food and lifesaving medical supplies from entering Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Medical professionals \u2013 starving, exhausted and fearing for the safety of everyone around them \u2013 are struggling to help people in the handful of barely functional medical facilities left in the besieged Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They get rare help in the form of medical missions from overseas which manage to get Israeli approval to enter Gaza, like the PalMed mission that saw Almasharqah spend two weeks working at the European Hospital, the only hospital functioning in southern and central Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a frustrating situation to describe fully. I mean, everything was difficult,\u201d Almasharqah told Al Jazeera, working in the struggling Khan Younis hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Palmed
The 54-year-old says most of the patients he saw were women and children [Courtesy of Riyadh Almasharqah]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six months into Israel\u2019s deadly assault on Gaza, following the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, the lack of equipment, medicine, and supplies has pushed the medical sector closer to total collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation has drastically worsened with famine-like conditions that have affected more than 90 percent of Gaza\u2019s 2.3 million people \u2013 most of whom are now internally displaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A combination of the two means that simple reconstructive procedures, like skin grafts, become very difficult to do properly and, chances are, the patient\u2019s malnourished state often means they will not heal properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every scenario, essentials were lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add to that the medics\u2019 fear of Israeli attacks and what was to Almasharqah an unimaginable volume of patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly in the orthopaedic [department] \u2026 at one time, there were 250 patients. In plastic surgery, there were 70 patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The procedures needed ranged from basic wound care to emergency surgeries, and even bigger surgeries that require reconstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201csimple procedures become so \u2026 complicated in that atmosphere because the instruments are not working\u201d, Almasharqah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Emotionally draining\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Palestinian families forced to flee their homes have sought shelter in and around hospitals since the start of Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, most hospitals have come under attack and have been raided by Israeli forces, forcing thousands of wounded and displaced Palestinians to flee and putting facilities out of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli attacks have destroyed more than 200 medical facilities, partially or completely. At least 32 hospitals have been put out of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of displaced Palestinians, medical staff, and patients have been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with a lack of places to seek refuge, families still shelter in and around medical facilities, crowding hospital courtyards, hallways, and wards even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation makes finding a post-operative patient difficult, Almasharqah said, pointing out that follow-up is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the wards are full, so they send them to a field hospital attached to the [main] hospital,\u201d Almasharqah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a challenge to find where the patient had gone, and whether they received the proper post-op treatment,\u201d he said. This is also because there is a shortage of nurses and paramedics, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oftentimes, patients do not have access to the antibiotics or fluids required post-surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an inhumane situation by all means,\u201d Almasharqah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEasily, more than 80 percent [of patients] were children and women, and they were badly injured. I cannot \u2026 describe their injuries and burns they sustained,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almasharqah, a father of six himself, lost three child patients to burn wounds within 48 hours, despite his repeated pleas that they be transported out of Gaza for treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo \u2026 action was taken,\u201d he said. \u201cI was approached by a number of charities, and they promised to do something, but I kept losing them, one by one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first child was a little girl who had sustained about \u201c50 percent burns\u201d, he said. \u201cWe lost her because she was so cold and we were trying to keep her warm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 33,137 people and wounded some 75,815 others in Gaza since October 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly a quarter of injuries are children, the ministry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almasharqah said there are \u201ccountless memories\u201d that will stay with him forever \u2013 from the sounds of bombardment to the sight of triage centres overflowing with patients and bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were many faces I won\u2019t forget, particularly the faces of innocent children shattered by war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the most memorable moments for Almasharqah were the children who \u201cdisplayed incredible resilience despite their injuries\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir bravery in the face of adversity was both heartbreaking and inspiring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realised these people are so strong and they will never be defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the immense levels of human suffering, Almasharqah said there were moments of \u201chope and positivity \u2013 whether it was saving a life or providing comfort to a patient in pain\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople were so grateful, he said. \u201cThey just want relief from pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will definitely go back again,\u201d he said. \u201cThese people deserve better. They deserve all the help, all the care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCE:\u00a0AL JAZEERA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Gaza today, scalpel blades have to be reused in surgeries, but that results in them becoming too blunt to do what they are supposed to do. In Gaza today, medics often carry out surgical procedures without pain control. In Gaza today, nearly all patients suffer from malnutrition, so their wounds do not heal. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172,307,185],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-172","category-main-news","category-palestinian-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10056,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10053\/revisions\/10056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ameforum.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}