South Sudan: Life-saving first aid

13-09-2013 Photo gallery

Since early July, intensified intercommunal violence in South Sudan in the state of Jonglei has resulted in hundreds of people being wounded or killed. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, or taken refuge in Ethiopia, Kenya or Uganda. South Sudan Red Cross volunteers provide life-saving first aid to people in need in areas where health care is not easily accessible.

- In Malakal, people struggle to survive on a daily basis. Women walk long distances to fetch scarce drinking water every day, and communities affected by conflict strive to make ends meet. The ICRC helps the most vulnerable families by supporting livelihoods and improving access to clean water.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- A volunteer of the country’s recently recognized South Sudan Red Cross. The ICRC invests a great deal of effort and resources to strengthen this National Society, which plays a vital role in addressing the needs of the people.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- An ICRC paediatrician treats a child in the therapeutic feeding centre (malnutrition ward), at Malakal Teaching Hospital. The ICRC provides trauma and emergency surgical care along with paediatric and physiotherapy services in this hospital, which serves over three million people in three neighbouring states.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- Children in Malakal hospital are protected from malaria with mosquito nets. The ICRC is upgrading the hospital’s water and sanitation system as well as hygiene to reduce health risks.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- After 20 years of civil war, there is a lack of trained doctors and nurses in South Sudan. The ICRC delivers on-the-job training for hospital staff in Malakal Teaching Hospital. The organization has been providing the hospital with consumables and other supplies for treating the wounded and the sick, and also donates medical supplies to help other hospitals in South Sudan deal with emergencies. To further improve health care, ICRC has just finished the construction of a new operating theatre in Malakal Teaching Hospital.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- South Sudan Red Cross volunteers practice during a first aid instructor course in Juba. A total of 17 volunteers from across the country attended the training. The aim of the course was to strengthen the confidence and skills of the participants to respond in emergency situations. Another objective was that participants would be able to pass on these skills as trainers to different groups in the future.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- Due to the lack of infrastructure (transport and roads), many patients only go to the hospital when they are already in grave condition. The majority of them do not have the means to get to the hospital, and there are not enough ambulances to cover the needs. Therefore, first aid is even more vital to save lives.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- Women volunteers of the South Sudan Red Cross simulate the evacuation of wounded and sick patients during the first aid instructor course in Juba.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- An ICRC paediatrician examines a child. The lack of safe access to health care affects children the most.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC
- At the first aid instructor training in Juba, South Sudan Red Cross volunteers learned about all the different means of transporting patients to hospital. Participants are trained to provide the necessary first aid before transferring patients to hospital for further treatment. These coordinated efforts save precious lives.
  © Marco Di Lauro / Getty Images / ICRC

South Sudan: Life-saving first aid

13-09-2013 Photo gallery

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