Interview of the month
- Posted Category : Interviews
- 16 April 2017
During the past few days, Ayn Al Hulwah camp was exposed to armed clashes which lasted for six consecutive days. While following the news of the camp, we conducted an interview with Dr. Majdi Kuraim, director of Shifa Society for medical and humanitarian services specifically in medical charity to the Palestinian camps in Lebanon and its headquarters in Sidon.
We asked Dr. Majdi about the conditions in the camps, so he answered: "The armed clashes continued for six consecutive days, and they resulted in 8 dead and more than 50 injured. Their injuries ranged from minor to moderate and severe which reached clinical death. Likewise, 100 houses in the camp were damaged, either by fire or demolishment causing tens of families to be displaced".
Dr. Kuraim added: "After the ceasefire, a group of delegates comprising of the security forces of all factions, a number of civil and humanitarian organizations and some political and religious individuals entered the camp to assess the conditions and look at the damage the camp was exposed to. This delegation continued visiting the camp to explore how to compensate those afflicted. For this reason, a meeting was held in conjunction with the popular committees and some Palestinian factions and UNRWA who has not offered the required assistance in full, stating that it lacks sufficient support like previously. It also said that it will survey the damages then present projects to donor countries to compensate the people".
He indicated that: "there are only two operational hospitals in the camp. They are Nida Humanitarian Hospital and Khalid bin Walid Centre which resembles a hospital with different specialities and basic theatres. There is also Al Aqsa Centre, but it has been closed for a while now. Likewise, there is a group of specialized clinics found in the camp. It is worthy of indicating that the camp is situated in Sidon City. Its area does not exceed one square kilometre. It is densely populated being inhabited by more than 100 000 Palestinian refugees and about 20 000 Syrian refugees who came after the war in Syria. The medical centres were not directly damaged, but their role was relatively absent. This is because they are situated among the fighting zones exposing them to shooting. Due to the presence of gunmen in the area around it, the possibility of the injured, doctors and surgeons reaching the hospital was slight. As for the medical centres, they accepted the injured in addition to chronic patients and conditions of panic and suffocation due to the fires. These centres began treating minor conditions, while the moderate and severe conditions were referred outside the camp. There is definitely a need to expand the emergency departments in the hospitals and medical centres and to provide them with basic medical material".
"Likewise, the ambulance vehicles, of which the main one was under Shifa Society, played a great role in the camp. The Society contributed 10 ambulance vehicles: 2 within the camp and 8 outside of it, and about 80 paramedics assisted from different areas (Beirut, Tyre and Sidon), 25 of them within the camp and the rest on its borders. They worked by transferring the injured, afflicted and the corpses of the deceased to the other side. They also played a role in transferring citizens outside the camp to their families. Likewise, the paramedics contributed to putting out many fires in buildings, shops and cars. They also provided some medication to those with chronic illnesses like hypertension, cardiac disease and psychiatric conditions. They contributed, likewise, to cleaning the streets of rubble to ease the movement of the camp’s inhabitants. Worthy of mention is that the potentials of the ambulance vehicles are modest. Even the numbers of lead-protective clothing are insufficient. Likewise, the firefighters are burdened due to increased fire patches and scantiness of water provided to extinguish them. They take up time in putting them out and halting their spread because the houses in the camp are adjacent. The people also contributed in putting out fires".
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