AU Mission in Somalia reorients its military medical personnel on the management of casualties in conflict zones

Mogadishu, 28 March 2018 - A team of 39 military medical personnel from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have successfully completed a three-day orientation on emergency evacuations, management of casualties and trauma patients, in highly stressed environments.

The orientation, undertaken by medical personnel operating in combat zones, is part of the AU Mission’s medical support plan aimed at ensuring that all its medical personnel are well versed in battlefield First Aid, casualty evacuations and care, handling drug stockpiles and disposal of medical waste.
Facilitators at the three-day orientation comprised of officials from the United Kingdom’s military training team.

“This mission is going to expose you to injuries that are predominantly IED-type injuries, which some of you are not familiar with,” Retired Gen. Fidza Dludlu, the AMISOM Head of Mission Support told participants on the last day of the medical workshop.

The Force Medical Officer Lt. Col. Dr. Boniface Mandishona, attributed most injuries in combat zones, to the use of Improvised Explosive Devices by the enemy. IEDs remain the biggest threat to civilian populations and security forces in Somalia.

“As you know, the biggest weapon in our Mission area, which is being used by Al-Shabaab, are Improvised Explosive Devices. We get nasty injuries and some of these new staff are not exposed to the type of injuries that we get. So this conference gives them an opportunity to interact with our training team, who will then impart the knowledge that is necessary for us to improve on troops’ health and ability in the mission area,” Dr. Mandishona explained.

The training oriented the medical personnel on aspects of emergency trauma handling in the frontline - which include learning ways of stopping excessive bleeding and proper handling of fractures, to ensure injured troops are safely evacuated to hospitals.

The training benefitted diverse groups drawn from all AMISOM sectors, among them military commanders, senior medical officers, principal nursing officers, laboratory technicians and pharmacists.
Maj. Gen. Salvatore Harushimana, the AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in-charge of Support and Logistics, called on participants to use skills learnt, to better manage emergencies in conflict zones.
A participant, Captain Biira Kabonesa, the Principal Nursing Officer at the AMISOM Level II Hospital in Mogadishu, described the training as insightful and useful.

“I will share with others the knowledge given to me during the three-day sessions,” she said.

“You cannot be trained enough. Our troop medics, our paramedics, they need more training and we will do that, according to what we have received,” another participant, Captain Dr. Severin Irambona, the Burundian contingent medical officer based in Jowhar, HirShabelle state added.

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