A crisis in Beirut, Lebanon
An explosion in the Lebanese capital has devastated the city
“The situation in Lebanon was already critical before the explosion,” said Emmanuel Massart, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) coordinator of operations. “The number of COVID-19 cases was on the rise in the past weeks and some hospitals were starting to become overwhelmed dealing with these patients. More people were also struggling to access health care because of the economic crisis. The blast transformed what was already a very difficult situation into chaos in just a few seconds.”
The treatment of severe and critical cases—such as people suffering from head and chest injuries—was prioritized by hospitals and ambulance services on the first night. Since then, thousands of other patients have been treated for less severe injuries such as cuts caused by glass from shattered windows.
“Some of our colleagues went spontaneously to health facilities to see how they could lend a hand to the medics dealing with the emergency,” said Jonathan Whittall, MSF’s emergency response coordinator in Beirut. “We also donated first-aid dressing kits to the [Lebanon’s] Civil Defense in the immediate aftermath.”
