IR’s emergency response team together with the Ministry of Health in Gaza has carried out a detailed assessment of the medical equipment the Al Shifa hospital needs to be able to cope with the ongoing emergency. Aid workers report that the hospital urgently needs electricity generators, 500 Oxygen cylinders, five operating tables and 30 beds as it has run out of space to treat the injured. Five intensive care unit beds are also needed along with five antithesis units, syringes and basic disposable medical equipment. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reports fifty percent of ambulances in Gaza are not in service as they require urgent repairs and the spare parts that are needed are not available inside the Strip. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, 105 types of medication are no longer available in their stores and cannot be sourced inside Gaza. ‘’Despite severe restrictions on the movement of our aid teams on the ground, we have been able to purchase life saving medical supplies for the Al Shifa Hospital from local suppliers. We are working with the Ministry of Health in Gaza to try and purchase medical equipment from neighbouring countries and work out how we can get the supplies into Gaza’’ said Hatem Shurrab, an IR aid worker in Gaza. IR’s emergency teams are also carrying out assessments to measure how much food is available inside Gaza and to assess its quality.
"What we are seeing in Gaza right now is unprecedented. There is urgent humanitarian need and as aid workers we are operating under extreme conditions. We have to restrict our movements due to the bombing and we have to work with electricity black outs. People in Gaza are traumatised and under extreme stress" said Shurrab. IR has launched a $3 million appeal to purchase humanitarian aid to assist the population of Gaza.
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|