Following our September STAE Course, David Nott and one of the Libyan surgeons we trained were featured on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme with Mishal Husain. Referred to as ‘Sara’ to protect her identity, this surgeon spoke to David and Mishal of how she, and other doctors working on the front lines of conflict, are often placed in situations for which they are ill-equipped.

When the Libyan Uprising began in 2011, Sara was a fourth year medical student. Many of the experienced nurses and doctors had left the hospital at this time, leaving the junior doctors and medics to take on everything. Often finding herself alone in the emergency department, Sara was confronted with hundreds of casualties each day.

The STAE Course (Surgical Training for Austere Environments) was set up by David Nott in 2013 to train surgeons, like Sara, to work in austere and hostile environments, where there are often drastic shortages of medical supplies and resources.

During the course, Sara learnt that “you can manage and do operations without much equipment” and in the future, she hopes to take her expertise to field hospitals, because “that’s where they really need me.”

You can listen to the full story here – skip to 2 hours 40 minutes!