Forty-six civilian and military doctors took part in the sessions in Goma and Bukavu, aimed at familiarizing medical personnel in war zones with war surgery techniques. The training was also an opportunity for specialists to discuss such difficulties as handling mass war casualty situations.

“The colleagues we have been working with over the last few days have to treat patients with very specific types of wound. War surgery isn’t taught at medical school – you learn it in war zones,” explained Catherine Savoy, the ICRC’s health coordinator for the DRC. “It’s important that we be prepared to respond to emergencies using simple, proven techniques. These techniques often enable us to save lives and to limit trauma and other consequences of war wounds.”

The seminar gave the ICRC an opportunity to share its war surgery expertise and to discuss the rules of international humanitarian law, which stipulate that everyone must have access to medical care during conflict and that health personnel must be able to work safely and unhindered.

Courses like these are of particular relevance in the eastern part of the DRC, which has been suffering the effects armed conflict for many years. Medical facilities in the region often have to work under difficult conditions. Despite the damage they have suffered over more than two decades of war, they frequently have to handle sudden influxes of casualties.

The ICRC is supporting 14 medical facilities in the provinces of North and South Kivu, plus five physical rehabilitation centres for war casualties.