Libya: ICRC trains 120 doctors to treat weapon wounds

ICRC News Release
9 December 2013

Tripoli (ICRC) – A training seminar on the treatment of wounds caused by mines, bullets, shrapnel and other weapons closes today in Benghazi.

Organized jointly by the Libyan Ministry of Health, the Libyan Red Crescent Society (LRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross, the two-day seminar brought together 120 doctors from different parts of Libya.

"This has been the sixth surgical seminar the ICRC has organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Health in Libya. Recent violence in Tripoli, Benghazi and other cities shows the need for this kind of training," explained Katharina Ritz, who heads the ICRC delegation in Libya. "Such events enable surgeons to provide better treatment for people with weapon wounds."

The seminar is an opportunity for leading Libyan surgeons to exchange experiences and best practices with ICRC specialists. In addition, they discuss the problems they face when treating casualties of armed conflict or violence, often with limited resources.

"Topics have included trauma surgery, weapon wounds, first aid, mass casualty situations and the rights and obligations of medical personnel," said Brigitte Noel, the ICRC health delegate in Tripoli.

Over the last 150 years, the ICRC has acquired tremendous expertise in caring for victims of armed conflict under difficult conditions, particularly where the health system has been severely disrupted.

In Libya, the ICRC is visiting detainees, tracing missing persons, working with the LRCS to help people injured or displaced by violence and training their volunteers on the dangers of explosive remnants of war. It is also stimulating compliance with IHL and universal humanitarian principles, by promoting these rules with the Libyan authorities and providing expertise on their teaching and integration to the Libyan army and security forces.

ENDS

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