In Gaza, patients treated in pain due to lack of anesthetics

by Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, Nov 10 (Reuters) – For Abou Emad Hassanein, a nurse at Al Chifa Hospital in Gaza City, it was one of the worst moments he can remember: a little girl crying in pain , calling for his mother, while he stitched up a raw wound on his forehead.

Since the start of Israel’s offensive on Gaza, in response to Hamas’ unprecedented attack on the Jewish state on October 7, hospitals in the besieged enclave have faced numerous shortages, particularly of anesthetics. and painkillers.

“Sometimes we give some of them sterile gauze (to bite) to reduce the pain,” admits Abou Emad Hassanein.

“We know that the pain they are feeling is more than anyone could imagine, more than someone their age could handle,” referring to the children like the little girl with the head injury.

Nemer Abou Thair, a middle-aged man injured in the back after an airstrike, came to Al Chifa to have his wound disinfected and his dressing changed. He says the caregivers were unable to give him painkillers when they stitched up his wound.

“I continued reciting the Quran until they finished,” he explains.

Israel launched air, sea and land assaults on the densely populated enclave, which Hamas-controlled Gaza health authorities say have killed more than 10,800 Palestinians.

When large numbers of injured people are brought in at once, explains Mohamed Abou Selmeyah, director of Al Chifa Hospital, caregivers have to care for them on the floor, without adequate pain relief.

During the explosion at Al Ahli Arab hospital on October 17, some 250 injured people were transported to Al Chifa hospital, which has only 12 operating rooms.

“If we had waited to operate on them one by one, we would have lost many injured people,” commented the director.

“We were forced to operate on the floor and without anesthesia, or using local anesthesia or weak painkillers to save lives,” he added.

According to the director, Al Chifa staff thus carried out amputations of limbs and fingers, suturing wounds and treating serious burns under these conditions, without giving further details.

SUFFER OR DIE

“It’s painful for the medical team. It’s not simple. Either the patient suffers or he loses his life,” explains Mohamed Abou Selmeyah.

Israel said the explosion at Al Ahli Arab hospital was caused by a botched rocket attack by the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. The latter and Hamas, for their part, accused an Israeli airstrike.

Nasser Hospital in the town of Khan Younis also suffered a total shortage of anesthetics at the start of the war, until aid trucks were allowed into the enclave, its director said , Dr Mohamed Zakout.

“Certain interventions were carried out without anesthesia, notably cesarean sections, and we were also forced to operate on certain burns in this way,” he detailed.

The staff did their best to relieve the patients’ pain with other, less strong medications, the director adds, but were insufficient.

“It’s not ideal for a patient who is in an operating room and we want to operate with general anesthesia,” he added.

During the first 12 days of the war, no aid was allowed into the Gaza Strip. On October 21, a first convoy of aid trucks entered through the Rafah crossing point on the Egyptian border.

Since then, several convoys have entered the enclave, but the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations say the aid provided is far from enough to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.

While the shortage of anesthetics has eased at Nasser Hospital thanks to deliveries, says Dr. Mohamed Zakout, serious shortages are still being reported at Al Chifa and the Indonesian Hospital, both located in the north of the strip. of Gaza, heavily bombed. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Reuters TV, written by Estelle Shirbon; French version Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)