Gaza: HI deploys 10 rehabilitation teams to assist injured

10 mobile teams will be working in the five governorates of Gaza starting the end of this week, supplying at-home rehabilitation care to people injured in the recent demonstrations.

Flavia Stea Antonini, head of operations at the HI’s head office, tells us more about the emergency response:

“Our teams will launch their response in a few days. Our aim is to provide at-home rehabilitation care and psychological support for casualties returning home after being released from hospital, where they often stay a very short time due to overcrowding.”

“We plan to help 1,500 people. Also, 7,000 caregivers - friends and family of the injured - will be given advice on injury management, and how to provide casualties with rehabilitation care and psychosocial support. These activities are set to last six months.”

“Our team currently has 40 professionals in total, including one social worker, two occupational therapists, two physiotherapists, one psychologist and two nurses per team.”

”We will be assessing the situation over the next few days: it won’t take us long to understand the types of injuries we need to deal with, how we are going to manage patient flows, and so on. We can beef up our teams if necessary.”

”Things have become less tense in Gaza in recent days, but we know that other events are planned until 5th June.”

Rehabilitation is vital to prevent disability

Some 3,500 people were injured in demonstrations on 14th and 15th May on the border between Gaza and Israel. Medical services in Gaza have been overwhelmed by the sudden arrival of large numbers of casualties.

The rehabilitation services set up by HI are desperately needed to ensure that injured people do not develop complications and to prevent permanent impairments.