Syria, MedGlobal Resiliency Medical Mission May 1-7, 2023 Dr Aisha Mirza, Emergency Medicine

     My colleague politely waves to a small child carrying bags of sunflower seeds with his little brother, and the child smiles shyly. His younger brother waves excitedly, seeing a foreigner seems exciting to him. His father not far behind rolls up on a motorbike, smiles and shakes my colleagues hand. The father then turns to me, puts his right hand to his chest and says “AsSalaam-Alaikum” (Peace be unto you), as is the custom between men and women in Syria. He waves upwards, and speaks kindly. Our friend and guide Mustafa translates that the man has
just invited us up to his home for tea.

     The children of Syria have been born into a place broken by war, and torn by natural disasters. Although they can not travel beyond the regions blocked to them, or see the beautiful beaches and views of their own country that they now only see on television, their parents try their best to remind them of the time before war. They educate them of their peaceful and kind culture and religion, and these habits are exuded in every meeting that I have with every person in Syria on this trip.

      MedGlobal has had a presence in Syria for a few years, catering to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) with their mobile medical teams. However, this is only their second resilience medical mission since the earthquake on February 6th, 2023 that decimated Turkey and NorthWest Syria. MedGlobal Co-founders Dr Zaher Sahloul and Dr John Kahler were integral
leaders during this mission. MedGlobal gathered a large group of volunteers from across the globe for a multi- arm mission
and here is a brief overview of what we accomplished.

     I worked along side Dr Kendall Thurman (USA) and Dr Edin Karic (Qutar), and we provided Point Of Care UltraSound (POCUS) training for 18 physicians in three hospitals in North West Syria (Darkoush , Idlib, Harim). Our role was to expand on the training that the previous MedGlobal team had provided these physicians, when they had gifted them the butterfly handheld ultrasound devices with iPad screens. We used a combination of classroom lectures, patient care hands-on POCUS in trauma,
advanced cardiac, lung, and procedural practice. One physician in rural Harim commented that having point of care ultrasound skills enabled him to detect an abdominal bleed quickly and then to transfer his patient to a larger centre in a safe manner.

     At one point a very sick patient went into cardiac arrest in the ICU, and a resident ran a full resuscitation code. I was humbled to witness that everything about this resuscitation, from the team leader, to the hands on delivery and care for this patient was similar to what would happen in Canada. I was suddenly transported to my own emergency room, and could see that
at the heart of the system there were no differences. Overhead, the Azan (the call for prayer) could be heard playing in the foreground, it was a poetic sound, as the physicians battled for the patients life. When the time came, a moment of silence for the patient’s life was held by the
team.

     Drs Chandra Hassan (USA), a general surgeon and Dr Sami Bittar (USA), a plastic surgeon were part of the surgical volunteer team that worked on surgical cases during the mission. Dr Hassan further trained physicians on a new laprascopic technique via a laprascopic tower and screen, donated by MedGlobal that could be used for advanced surgical procedures.

     Dr John Kahler (USA), Dr Shazia Janmuhammad (USA), Jennifer Neczypor (USA), Sireen Jabar (USA) and Dr Rosanne Symons (South Africa) worked tirelessly in the Mobile Medical Clinics to assess the people and children requiring medical aid.

     The nursing team of Sandra Saltzer (USA), Elena Lydon (Ireland), Joanne Burr (Australia), Sandy Adler (USA) provided a combination of much needed infection prevention control (IPC), wound care and basic life support training (BLS) for local doctors and and nurses from various organizations at the Idlib Heath Directorate.

     Dr Noha Kassem (Turkey) was our psychiatrist in charge of mental health training and psychological first aid. 35 Psychosocial Support (PSS) workers attended the basic training on the Effects of Psychological Trauma held at Al Rahma Hospital in Darkoush, Idlib. At the Idlib Health Directorate, 65 mental health service providers participated in the second training. The majority of trainees expressed that this was the most important training they had attended during their entire career. This feedback was outstanding and speaks to the quality of instruction that Dr Kassem provided as well as the extreme need for mental health support in Syria.

     Syria is a beautiful land and it’s people have not been forgotten, nor their words.

     “When you knock on the door please be so gentle. The owner’s dispersed into earth’s pathways as if they never were, Life, amiability and love remains in this place between people who lived in this house.”
– Syrian inscription above a doorway (translated into english)

Dr Aisha Mirza
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada