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AMMAN — Over the past month, a sharp surge in mass casualty incidents linked to aid distribution sites has overwhelmed Gaza’s shattered healthcare system, pushing its already-diminished capacity past its limit.
The 60-bed Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah, now the last fully operational hospital in the area, has been running beyond maximum capacity almost daily, according to a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Its staff are racing to treat an unrelenting tide of injuries, the vast majority caused by gunfire.
Since the launch of new aid distribution sites around May 27, the field hospital has treated over 2,200 weapon-wounded patients, most of them across more than 21 separate mass casualty events. Hospital staff have logged more than 200 deaths over this period.
The scale and frequency of these incidents are without precedent. In just over a month, the number of patients treated has surpassed the total seen in all mass casualty events during the entire previous year.
“In the previous rotations, we would work in the OT between 8-10 cases. Right now, we are working on 30-40 cases per day which is a massive difference just in terms of workload,” says operating theatre nurse Haitam Al Hasan.
“We have people screaming, rushing, trying to be the first in the line because, of course, everybody wants to be treated first. We have a variety of injuries, mostly complex injuries, blast injuries, but mainly gunshot injuries.”
Among the wounded are toddlers, teenagers, elderly, mothers, and overwhelmingly, young men and boys. Most say they were simply trying to get food or aid for their families.
To meet the overwhelming demand, physiotherapists support nurses, cleaning and dressing wounds and taking vitals. Cleaners now serve as orderlies, carrying stretchers wherever they are needed. Midwives have stepped into palliative care, offering pain relief and holding the hands of those who will not survive.
Since its opening, the Red Cross Field Hospital has conducted more than 100,000 consultations and over 4,600 surgical procedures.
