On Monday, October 2, a three-day War Surgery Seminar started in Dilijan organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Armenia in cooperation with the Ministries of Health and Defense.

Two ICRC surgeons, Dr. Andreas Wladis and Dr. Åsa Molde, who have many years of experience treating war-wounded patients in different countries around the world, facilitate the seminar. The aim of the event is to share the ICRC's experience of wound management with local health professionals who work in areas affected by the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and have to assist war-wounded patients, often with limited technical means.

Twenty-one surgeons from civilian and military hospitals of Armenia and Karabakh are attending the seminar. During the seminar, they will learn more about management of complex injuries and weapon wounds, infection control and anesthesia. The participants will also present and discuss challenging cases that they have dealt with in the course of their work.

“Over the past thirty years, the ICRC medical teams collected and analysed information on their surgical activities in conflict situations”, says Nima Dadbin, deputy head of the ICRC Delegation in Armenia. “Our developed standards of treatment with minimum resources are based on the follow-up of more than 100,000 patient cases. We are pleased to have the chance to offer this expertise to Armenian surgeons, who in turn will reinforce our specialists’ knowledge through sharing of experience”.

The War Surgery Seminar is organized for the second time in Armenia. Last year, 80 surgeons took part in a similar three-day workshop.