Life-saving Medical Assistance: Emergency Team Enhances Trauma Care Services in Somalia’s Capital

During the last month, our Emergency Medical Team were in Somalia to support with capacity building of healthcare professionals in Mogadishu following the twin explosions.

On October 29th, 2022, Somalia experienced twin explosions near the Ministry of Education Mogadishu, leaving local hospitals struggling to cope with high numbers of casualties.  

Madina Hospital, the biggest in the capital, and the country’s main referral facility saw more than 150 patients admitted in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, and the struggle to treat the mass casualties highlighted the urgent need for better trauma care in a region all too familiar with such large-scale incidents. 

Following the incident, the Somalia Ministry of Health and World Health Organization identified key needs in terms of training and support and in January 2023 UK-Med deployed a team of nine clinicians to work in the trauma units at Madina Hospital.  

Working alongside doctors, nurses and technicians from the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit, Operating Theatres and High Dependency Unit, the team have been passing on their combined experience in effective patient management and surgical skills to improve clinical care within the trauma departments.

The hospital’s staff received 26 formal training sessions, mostly face-to-face and some online. They were also taught 20 topics through on-the-job coaching, and 17 standard operating procedures and guidelines were introduced, including 11 for operating theatres and five for Infection prevention and control (IPC).

Our surgeons participated in 21 surgical procedures, enhancing the skills of the hospital’s surgeons in skin grafting and operating theatre management.  

This response was with the WHO EMT initiative, which is a global initiative that assists Organisations and countries to build capacity and strengthen health systems by coordinating the deployment of qualified medical teams in emergencies.

This initiative also helps countries develop national teams, which can be deployed where they are needed most in the shortest time.   

We’re grateful to the World Health Organization (WHO) who funded this important response.