Strikes are no longer limited to a battlefield, nor can a battlefield be easily defined. The points of attack target can be the schools people used to go to when they were children, the local markets or hospitals. This creates an environment where healthcare workers and non combatants increasingly become targets in invasions and armed conflict from Syria to Ukraine and beyond.
According to the golden hour mandate (US Department of Defense), over half of preventable deaths in armed conflict occur in less than an hour after the person is wounded.
In an environment where conventional civilian medical infrastructure is under attack , wounded people (both civilians and soldiers) are more likely to die from easily preventable injuries.
One of the areas of work of our organization is to act as a bridge for the injured ones in those vulnerable situations by using the emergency medical frameworks of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care and Tactical Combat Casualty Care. We accomplish this by having volunteers working closely with the local people willing to work in situation with risk to their personal safety in order to provide emergency medical interventions. As well as to constantly learn and if asked to, we provide educations to emergency medicine providers.
Currently, one of our ongoing initiative is in North East Syria, where our team supports the ongoing research in emergency healthcare systems, and be part of works bringing solutions to issues posed in these environments. We also have a team on the ground in Ukraine, providing emergency medical training to people, collecting and supplying with the needed equipment and providing direct medical aid.
If you are interested, please get in contact with us at
medicalselfdefense@protonmail.com