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“It Smells of Kerosene”.
The Mediterranean returned a backpack to us this morning. “It smells of kerosene”, said Luca, our nurse aboard the Open Arms vessel. The same kerosene that causes terrible burns to so many who try to cross the Mediterranean. We laid everything inside it out on the deck. A Lakers top. A couple of chargers. Clothes, shoes, some hair accessories.…
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Our Surgical Centre in Lashkar-Gah is Now Saturated.
We are on the sixth consecutive night of fighting in Helmand. The fighting that has erupted as a result of an attempted advance by the Taliban in Helmand province continues. Our Surgical Centre for War Victims in Lashkar-Gah is now saturated. We have already added emergency beds and now are only able to admit the…
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Something that Starts Within these Walls but Continues Beyond them.
“Being the president of a medical charity like EMERGENCY is a lot of responsibility and an enormous privilege. One of those privileges is being able to travel and visit our projects around the world, meeting patients, staff, and partner organisations, and seeing first-hand the impact that our work has on people’s lives. I’m at the…
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World Heart Day 2020
The theme for this year is to use ❤️ to beat cardiovascular disease. We join this call by celebrating a group of people who put their heart and soul into cardiac care every day: our staff at the Salam Centre in Sudan, where EMERGENCY treats patients affected by heart conditions and diseases. Cardiovascular diseases are…
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World Safety Patient Day 2020
Today is World Patient Safety Day. Patient safety means safe hospital care through patient-centred treatment and high quality services. The theme for 2020? That there is no better way to protect patients than to protect healthcare workers. This is an imperative, basic rule for sustainable and well-functioning healthcare systems that has been made even clearer as we collectively…
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A More Peaceful Future for Afghanistan.
Kabul, Afghanistan. Today 32 young doctors, including 7 women, took the medical specialisation exam. They did it in our hospital – where so many of them have been trained over previous months. We wish the best of luck to you all! You will play an important role in building a better, more peaceful future for…
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They Need a Safe Harbour.
116 people adrift. They had been travelling for 3 days, with neither food nor water. Paola, our doctor on board the Open Arms, confirms they were in acute dehydration, confusion, severe debilitation. All this occurred under the eyes of the merchant ship we were alerted from, that got stuck for hours without being able to…
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We are Grateful Too.
The word that best describes Osas is enthusiastic. Enthusiastic about life, and enthusiastic about EMERGENCY. This year, he spent far more time at the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery than he ever could have imagined. Let’s tell you his story: Osas is from Nigeria. Last year, he was screened through our Regional Programme and diagnosed…
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“Her Eyes Were Still Full of Terror”.
Yesterday our staff on board the Open Arms Vessel joined the rescue of 83 people. They were there, crammed into a wooden boat adrift in the midst of the Mediterranean. Among them about 15 minors and 4 women. They left Libya the previous night and were abandoned a few hours later by the smugglers. Alone…
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With EMERGENCY’s Flag on the Blackboard…
We are part of the global movement to ensure that free and high-quality health services are available everywhere. Key to this is ensuring that people have the right information they need to stay healthy. Common illnesses are often the result of a lack of information and public health messaging. We want to make these conditions…