While the war that engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel last summer has long since ended, Khadija Ghzayyel, a teacher in El Kleili School in Tyre District, is forced to relive the conflict almost every day. As she walks through her neighborhood and past the ruins of an apartment building, she recalls the huge blast that hit frighteningly close to her family’s home in the first days of the war, and her helplessness in caring for the wounded.
“The noise was overwhelming, and the ground shuddered beneath our feet. We rushed to the front door and saw nothing, apart from ashes and ruins and black smoke,” she recalls. Once the dust cleared, she watched as three gravely injured men picked their way out of what remained of the damaged building. One had lost a hand; a second could not walk, and dragged himself over the debris using just his hands; and a third, whom Khadija recognized as her neighbor, had injured his right leg.
In shock, all she could think to do was shout for someone to call an ambulance. Other bystanders tried to find someone to administer first aid to the men, to no avail. Fifteen minutes later, an ambulance arrived on the scene after news of the explosion aired on the radio. While the rescuers were able to stop the bleeding and get the injured men to a local hospital, Khadija later learned that her neighbor had lost his leg. Doctors told the family that, had he received first aid just after the blast, he might not have required the amputation.
International Medical Corps and UNICEF Partner to Deliver First Aid Training
To help Khadija and others like her living in the conflict-prone south of the country, International Medical Corps and UNICEF conducted an essential first aid training course in September. Lebanese Red Cross trainer Abu Khalil worked with nine participants at the Majdel Silm School to ensure that they would be able to take the necessary first steps in caring for victims while waiting for medical help to arrive. In a program funded and supported by Lebanon United and UNICEF, International Medical Corps is helping to ensure Khadija and the other participants learn how to recognize symptoms of shock, stop bleeding with pressure, make a splint, lift an injured person, manage an obstructed airway, and perform CPR, among other things.
“I had never thought of learning first aid until the last war. I’ve always believed that I’d never have to apply it. There are doctors and nurses who take charge of such matters,” she assumed. But on the day of the blast, Khadija promised herself that she that she would never again be helpless in the face of an emergency.
Both Kamela Khalil and Hussein Sabra made similar promises. Kamela, the supervisor of Hennieh Primary School, witnessed a fatal motorbike accident several years ago. She and her husband were driving to the supermarket when she noticed two young men on a motorcycle attempting to pass the car. A speeding van traveling in the opposite direction hit the men head-on. While a crowd gathered around the injured, no one was able to help, and eventually one of the bystanders simply lifted one of the men into his car – not realizing that he could be exacerbating the man’s injuries – and drove him to the neighborhood United Nations Centre. He then came back to retrieve the second man.
“The next day I heard the sound of ‘Koran’ in the village, and knew that one of the young men had passed away. I later found out that he had suffered a fractured skull, and severe internal bleeding. His condition was compounded because he was left for too long without essential first aid.” Kamela felt somehow responsible, and now believes that everyone should learn the basics of first aid in order to be ready in any situation. “Thanks to this training, she says, “I know I’ll do all I can to provide the necessary help.”
Hussein Sabra, a teacher in Majdel Silm Primary School, was in the village mosque one day when he was told that a man had fallen while working in a nearby field and broken his leg. When he reached the scene, Hussein found the man lying on his back, not moving. He pointed to his right leg and immediately lost consciousness. Looking for materials to make a splint, Hussein scavenged two long wood branches, set them at both sides of the leg, and tied them with string. He lifted the man into his car and drove him to the hospital.
The doctor there cautioned Hussein that he could have fractured the man’s vertebral column or neck by lifting him and placing him in the back of the car. “I didn’t know about the possibility of internal bleeding or other fractures,” Hussein reported, “But after attending the First Aid Training, I learned how to lift an injured person and how to detect internal bleeding or fractures anywhere in the body, depending on the symptoms.”
Khadija, Kamela, and Hussein’s experiences taught them all how first aid, delivered quickly and appropriately, can prove critical for victims of an accident or other emergency. While none wish to go through such an ordeal again, the incidents did compel them to take action and seek out training that will help them administer life-saving care if it ever becomes necessary. In an area that has suffered from repeated conflict, International Medical Corps supported by Lebanon United in conjunction with UNICEF has found that the best way to help the local population cope is by building self-reliance.