In
spite of continuing hostilities, Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) and
Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) volunteers and staff
continue life-saving evacuations of wounded and vulnerable civilians
out of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, near Tripoli
in northern Lebanon. For nearly a month now, intense fighting
has continued in the camp, between an armed militia group, Fatah
al Islam and the Lebanese army.
The PRCS is active within the camp, evacuating the wounded and
the sick, and delivering medicines, food and relief items, provided
by the International Committee of the Red Cross, to civilians
still inside Nahr el-Bared. Once outside camp boundaries, the
wounded and civilians fleeing the fighting are handed over to
LRC emergency medical teams, who are responsible for either
bringing them to hospital or to safer areas, such as the nearby
Palestinian camp of Beddawi. Other people make their way to
other Palestinian camps in Saida, Tyre and in the Bekaa region.
“People leaving the camp are exhausted after experiencing
days of shelling, with little food or water and precarious shelter,”
explains Anne-Katherine Moore Karlsen, Federation head of Delegation
in Beirut. “The evacuations are risky and take time because
of the volatile security conditions. It is not possible for
us to know how many wounded or dead people remain inside the
camp.”
Lebanese Red Cross Emergency Medical Service (EMS) teams are
still on high alert – six first aid posts have been set
up near the entrances of the camp, staffed by 52 first aiders,
and a dozen ambulances are positioned there. Another 15 ambulances
with 90 first aid workers are on stand by in the EMS Northern
District stations ready to intervene immediately if the need
arises.
From June 11 to 14 alone, the EMS teams evacuated 243 civilians,
six wounded people and four medical emergencies. Two bodies
were evacuated by Palestine Red Crescent ambulances.
Since 20 May, the Lebanese Red Cross reports it has transported
more than 335 wounded (civilians and Lebanese soldiers) and
51 bodies, evacuated more than 987 civilians away from the camp’s
entrance, and taken 184 emergency medical cases to hospital,
working in close collaboration with the Palestine Red Crescent,
and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“We were shocked at the deaths of two members of our emergency
medical services, both volunteers in the Halba first aid centre.
Boulos Meemary, 25 years old, and Haitham Sleiman, 26, were
killed during shelling on 11 June near Nahr el Bared camp,”
says George Kettaneh, National Director of LRC Emergency Medical
Services. “We mourn these two young men who paid the highest
price of all in the service of humanity, but we are continuing
our work to try and save as many lives as possible, with our
Palestine Red Crescent colleagues.”
In his letter of condolence to the President of the Lebanese
Red Cross, Dr. Sami Al-Dahdah, Federation Secretary general
Markku Niskala wrote:
“Last summer, we, along with the whole world, witnessed
the courage and selfless dedication of Lebanese Red Cross paramedics
as they evacuated civilians caught in the hostilities. They
paid a high price with the death, last August, of volunteer
Mikhael Jbayleh, and with the many others who were wounded.
We pay tribute to all the Lebanese Red Cross volunteers working
in dangerous conditions, to assist the wounded and evacuate
the vulnerable. Our thoughts are with you in these distressing
times.”
In a joint statement issued on the day the two LRC volunteers
were killed, the Lebanese Red Cross, the Palestine Red Crescent,
the ICRC and the International Federation, issued a call to
all parties involved in the conflict to spare civilians who
are not directly participating in the hostilities, to allow
medical and humanitarian workers to carry out their tasks and
to have unimpeded access to the wounded.
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A
Palestinian man is carried to a car by a Lebanese Red
Cross worker after being evacuated from the Palestinian
Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. (REUTERS/Jerry
Lampen/courtesy www.alertnet.org)
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Boulos
Meemary, single, was 25 years old. He was head of the
LRC first aid centre at Halba. He had joined the Lebanese
Red Cross as a volunteer in 2000. (p15836)
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Haitham
Sleiman, single, was 26. He also worked at the Halba center
and had joined the Lebanese Red Cross as a volunteer in
2003. (p15835)
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