Burn care training in Ramallah

From the 4-9th December Interburns ran a training programme in Ramallah, the West Bank, in partnership with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). This follows a course in January which was held in Hebron for staff from two main burn services at Rafidia Hospital, Nablus and Alia Hospital, Hebron. Participants included 26 surgeons, nurses and physiotherapists as well as a number of instructors on the Primary Trauma Care course in Palestine.

The 4 days of training began with a standard Essential Burn Care (EBC) course, followed by more detailed practical sessions, case discussions and a mock court case. The team from West Bank were one of the most enthusiastic and engaged groups that Interburns has had the pleasure of training worldwide, and this was reflected in the effectiveness of the programme. All participants showed an average improvement of over 70% in their knowledge of burn care and a 50% increase in their overall confidence in treating burns patients following the course. This provides a solid foundation for more advanced training planned and the handover of the EBC to the local team in 2017.

Interburns would like to offer special thanks to Lina Qutob and Mira Almukarker of MAP and Dr Amal Abu Awad, Director General of Education in Health for the Ministry of Health, for all their help. Thank you to Tom Potokar, RuthAnn Fanstone and Sian Falder for forming the faculty for the programme.