Aiding the injured: Surgeons educated on ‘war surgery’ techniques at seminar

The seminar focuses on advancements in surgical treatment of patients with weapon wounds.

KARACHI: A three-day seminar on 'War Surgery' began on Tuesday, jointly organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Dow University of Health Sciences.

The seminar will focus on enhancing surgical techniques to treat patients with injuries sustained in disasters. The ICRC officials say that 55 surgeons from major hospitals of Karachi, including Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Indus Hospital, Civil Hospital and the Combined Military Hospital, are attending the seminar.

During the inauguration ceremony, held at the Pearl Continental hotel on Monday evening, Jerome Alexander Imstepf, the deputy head of the delegation, said that the ICRC started these seminars in Pakistan in 2013. "We started it in Peshawar," he added. He said that his organisation will continue to arrange these seminars in different cities of Pakistan.

The seminar focuses on the fact that the quality of treatment of wounds can be increased significantly by using very simple, but scientifically appropriate techniques. The ICRC officials believe that this approach has proven to be cost-effective, which is especially important and relevant for countries with limited financial resources.

"Years of experience in the field of the surgical treatment of weapon-wounded patients have allowed us to standardise their management through protocols and guidelines," said Dr Bonaventure Bazirutwabo, the ICRC's health coordinator in Pakistan. "This seminar is an opportunity to transfer that experience and knowledge to Pakistani surgeons," he said.

The chief guest of the event, Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro, provincial minister for parliamentary affairs, said that Pakistan is a disaster-stricken country that has always needed the support of such organisations. "We are a developing country and need these services," he said.

According to him, people cross borders and attack innocent people for political reasons. Dr Mandhro said. "The victims need help and we salute the ICRC that has always helped people in need," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2015.