STAE Course September 2019
At the end of September, we ran our 7th STAE Course - Surgical Training for Austere Environments. These courses, which are run in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons, equip medics with the knowledge, skills and confidence to treat patients and save lives. But the training does not end with these courses alone. As Dr Koma Akim, one of the surgeons we trained, said: “Being able to practise the procedure means I have the confidence to do it, and if I can do it, I can teach it.” Through our training and through this worldwide knowledge sharing, we are proud that our courses have saved an estimated 1.5 million lives and limbs to date.
Because of your continued generosity, we are able to offer fully funded scholarships to surgeons who work in challenging conditions to attend this London-based course. We are delighted that our September STAE course was completed by 14 such scholars from all over the world, including South Sudan, Cameroon, Libya and Pakistan. These are some of their stories.
Introducing Youssef
Youssef is a Lebanese surgeon who works 3km from the Syrian border. The majority of his patients are child refugees, who, having fled from war, now deal with chronic wounds and burns. As Youssef explained, war is not just about the acute wounds. Wounds that have not been properly treated, which become infected or that fail to heal properly can be just as deadly.
Dangerous conditions in the refugee camps at the border also mean that further injury is common. Burns from electric shocks, boiling water and fires are a regular occurrence and following up on patients presents an additional challenge. Working with just one other surgeon, Youssef has performed over 400 surgeries since the start of 2019 and sees around 50 patients every day.
Introducing Koma
Koma is a surgeon from South Sudan who regularly deals with gunshot and arrow wounds as a result of cattle rustling among pastoral communities. His patients are often injured hours away from the nearest hospital and those that survive the journey come to him with severe wounds.
Due to a lack of orthopaedic equipment in the hospital, Koma has to treat the majority of fracture injuries non-operatively, even though the patients would often benefit from external fixators or skeletal tractions.
The STAE course has increased Koma's confidence in dealing with these injuries, and he is eager to share his knowledge with colleagues in South Sudan. With the dry season coming up, this skills-sharing is especially important, as it is during this time that doctors expect the highest rates of trauma injuries as a result of the castle raiding.
We're proud to be able to share some of our surgeons' stories with you. You can help us to train more surgeons and save more lives by donating to the Foundation here.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Samah
We are proud to introduce Dr Samah in the latest instalment of our War Doctor Heroes. These features share the stories of our global family of surgeons. Their courage, diligence and dedication inspires everything that the Foundation strives to achieve.
Dr Samah is the only female surgeon in Aden and possibly in all of Yemen. We first met this incredible doctor in 2016 when she completed our overseas training course (HEST). Since then, she has come to be regarded as one of the very best and has consistently impressed our team with her dedication and diligence.
Earlier this year, Dr Samah was able to apply the skills learned on one of our courses in a life threatening situation. She carried out an emergency procedure whereby an incision of the skin of a patient is made to create a clear airway in a technique that is only performed as a last resort when intubation is impossible. Dr Samah told us: “I saved his life; it was great what I felt at that moment. It’s all thanks to Dr David and his Foundation.”
Her legacy is a reminder of the many extraordinary women who've been on the "front line" for years.
To help us train more war doctors like Dr Samah, you can donate here.
September 2019 Newsletter
Hello and welcome to our latest news update.
In this month's issue, we will reflect on our recent overseas course in Syria, highlight one of our incredible #wardoctorheroes and find out why three doctors have cycled 2,000 miles to raise money for the David Nott Foundation. We're also delighted to introduce to you our new Chair, Graham Hodgkin.
Thank you as always for your continued support in our global mission train more surgeons and save more lives.
Taking our training to the front line
Our team has recently returned from its latest mission - to Idlib in Syria. With 46 airstrikes occurring since April on healthcare facilities, the most dangerous place to be in Idlib is certainly a hospital.
Millions of people have been left without access to proper healthcare as a large number of hospitals have been put out of action, leaving doctors to face the challenge of saving lives without losing their own.
To help address this problem, we trained 24 surgeons and general practitioners, focusing on improving their skills in emergency trauma surgery and in particular, on managing blast injuries and gunshot wounds. Read more about it here.
Why cycle 2,000 miles?
Over the summer, doctors Keiran Macleod, Elliott Taylor and Richard Elston cycled a total of 2,000 miles between them to help us train more doctors working in austere environments. We've been absolutely bowled over by their level of dedication in taking on these extraordinary physical challenges to support our work and we’re delighted to share their stories with you.
After six gruelling days, 108 hours on the bike, 1,000 miles, 60,000 ft climbed, 486,000 spins of the pedal, and a lot of Haribo, doctors Keiran Macleod and Elliott Taylor both finished the North Coast 500 challenge.
“The cycle was an incredibly tough challenge but was an absolutely fantastic experience - the scenery was unbelievable. It's a huge honour for us both to raise money for the Foundation.”
At the same time, Dr Richard Elston took on the incredible challenge of cycling the 994 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End with four friends. A doctor who’s just finished working in A&E, Richard will be joining the British Army next year. After reading War Doctor, he was inspired by the difference that the teaching made and by the efforts of the local surgeons.
“We are incredibly privileged to be able to choose to take on challenges, to be able to dip in and out of difficult situations; many people do not have a choice and are instead born into war zones where daily life is an existential struggle, incompatible to anything we will experience on our cycle.”
Read more about what motivated them here.
Spotlight on Dr Aeshah Aelghamji
The Foundation's global network of #wardoctorheroes is our proudest achievement. Our work is about investing in people, providing the skills that save lives.
In this feature, we're proud to introduce Dr Aeshah from Libya. Dr Aeshah travelled 1,000 miles to attend our HEST course in Misrata, Libya. She is part of a small team of surgeons in Sabha, south west Libya and is used to fighting to keep patients alive whilst shrapnel and bullets tear through her hospital building.
“A single shot to an oxygen tube could have destroyed the whole theatre where we were operating but we couldn’t stop – we felt we were making a difference.”
Introducing Graham Hodgkin
The Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Graham Hodgkin as Chair of its Board of Trustees.
Graham commented: “I am both thrilled and honoured to be appointed to the Board of Trustees for the David Nott Foundation. As Chair, my aim is to support the evolution of the charity and to help enhance the scale and impact of its operations. It is a sad fact that conflicts and natural disasters will continue to occur across the world, all with far-reaching humanitarian consequences."
Read more about Graham's experience and motivation on our website.
David Nott named as one of the BA 100
We are very proud to share that David has been named as one of the BA 100, a list that celebrates the top one hundred makers of Modern Britain. Curated by British Airways to commemorate their landmark centenary year, those featured represent the best of business, environment, fashion, film and entertainment, food and drink, music, art and design, philanthropy, science and technology, and sport.
The BA 100, which also includes Olivia Coleman, Dame Jane Goodall, Mary Berry and the entire England Rugby team, celebrates the inspirational people who have contributed towards making Britain the creative, open-minded and welcoming place that it is today.
We are delighted that David has been selected and that the work of the David Nott Foundation has been recognised.
You can read more about the BA 100 here.
Doctors Supporting Doctors
Through the extraordinary dedication of three doctors, Keiran Macleod, Elliott Taylor and Richard Elston, a total of £2,500 has been raised to help us train more doctors working in austere environments. Together, they have cycled 2,000 miles in two epic cycling trips and raised more than £1 per mile!
Keiran and Elliott were studying medicine at St Andrews and found themselves graduating at the same time that David received his honorary degree. Totally inspired after hearing about his work, they decided to take on the North Coast 500 Challenge in Scotland in August. As if cycling 500 miles each wasn’t enough of an ordeal in itself, they carried everything on their bikes and camped each night.
Meanwhile, also starting out in Scotland, Richard and four others began their epic journey cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Richard tells us why he chose to do this for the Foundation: “This cause is especially close to my heart. Working in the NHS, I am always amazed at the speed with which huge resources and expertise are mustered to help anyone seriously unwell, regardless of their age, social standing or race. Sadly, this parity of healthcare does not extend across the globe to those who need it most. However, a small contribution could help train one surgeon and in turn save hundreds of lives. Civilians are mercilessly targeted as conflicts become more asymmetrical and belligerents turn to unconventional weapons, causing complex injury patterns for an overwhelming number of patients in an already challenging environment. Local doctors who work incredibly hard however, often lack the advanced training to save patients who could survive.”
To help us train even more doctors working in war zones, donate here today.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Aisha
War Doctor Heroes features the stories of our global family of surgeons. Their devotion to saving lives inspires us to keep moving forward. Conflict doesn't stop, neither do we.
In this feature, we're proud to introduce Dr Aisha from Libya. Dr Aisha travelled 1,000 miles to attend our HEST course in Misrata, Libya. She is part of a small team of surgeons in Sabha, south west Libya. She is used to fighting to keep patients alive whilst shrapnel and bullets tear through her hospital building. “A single shot to an oxygen tube could have destroyed the whole theatre, where we were operating but we couldn’t stop – we felt we were making a difference”. After our course, Aisha said: “Your hands can do the work but you need someone to guide you”.
Help us train more war doctors like Aisha by donating here https://lght.ly/1jbkc1g
Appointment of Chair of Board of Trustees - Graham Hodgkin
The Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of Graham Hodgkin as Chair of its Board of Trustees.
Graham commented: “I am both thrilled and honoured to be appointed to the Board of Trustees for the David Nott Foundation. As Chair, my aim is to support the evolution of the charity and to help enhance the scale and impact of its operations. It is a sad fact that conflicts and natural disasters will continue to occur across the world, all with far-reaching humanitarian consequences. As the only charity dedicated solely to teaching and training surgical skills in austere and hostile environments, our mission is both clear and compelling. It will be a genuine privilege to play a part in ensuring that the Foundation continues to help doctors in these disaster zones to provide the best possible care to their patients and that David and Elly Nott’s vision of a global network of medical professionals is both realised and sustained.”
David Nott added: “Elly and I are delighted that Graham has joined the David Nott Foundation as Chair of our Board of Trustees. His experience growing London Air Ambulance and in finance, management and governance mark him out as an exceptional addition to Foundation’s team. We all look forward to working with him as we deliver much-needed surgical training in conflict and disaster areas worldwide.”
An experienced leader, Graham has held a number of executive and non-executive roles across the financial services, charity and social enterprise sectors. He has founded his own independent consultancy business and is currently an interim executive for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; a non-executive Director for Resonance Ltd; and sits on the Advisory Board for City Mental Health Alliance.
Previously the Chief Executive Office at London’s Air Ambulance, he led the successful transformation of the advanced trauma team charity, culminating in the acquisition of a much-needed second medical helicopter for London. He was also a Director of the Association of Air Ambulances and a Trustee for the national AAA charity.
Prior to that, Graham was a Managing Director and UK Country Head for Global Transaction Banking at Deutsche Bank, where he led a variety of client-facing businesses as well as being heavily involved with their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. During the last phase of his DB career, he designed and managed their innovative £10m Social Impact Investment Fund of Funds.
Syria HEST July 2019
The team has recently returned from their latest mission to Syria. With 46 airstrikes occurring since April on healthcare facilities, the most dangerous place to be in Idlib is certainly a hospital. With many hospitals now out of action, millions of people have been left without access to healthcare facilities and doctors have been left to face the challenge of saving lives without losing their own.
In order to confront this problem and the worsening conditions of patients, the Foundation’s Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST) Faculty comprising David Nott, Ammar Darwish and Mounir Hakimi recently delivered a HEST course in the Dr Mohamad Wassim Maaz Hospital near Bab Al-Salameh on the Turkish-Syrian border. Their objective was to deliver the course to 24 surgeons and general practitioners from Idlib, in partnership with Syria Relief and the Independent Doctors Association, to improve their skills in emergency trauma surgery, with a specific focus on how to treat blast injuries and gunshot wounds.
Intensifying airstrikes and destruction are slowly forcing everybody towards Idlib city. The only defence they have is to be prepared. The HEST course has aided this in equipping the surgeons and general practitioners with the skills necessary to tackle the increasingly life threatening injuries and rising population, allowing them to significantly improve the outcome for their patients.
The settings where HEST is taught rule out cadaveric teaching, so the Foundation’s whole body simulator was employed for training. Now with its legs removable, enabling faster and cheaper transport, the impact that it made on the quality of training and the ease with which the Faculty could demonstrate anatomy and procedures was excellent. Supporting the simulator was a suite of individual models of organs, blood vessels and key anatomies with which the students could train. The Faculty also trialled two new commercially-sourced neonatal resuscitation models (Laerdal Medical’s NeoNatalie) and two new neurosurgery models (Delta Surgical’s Rowena), which were a great success.
The Foundation’s Faculty are experts in austere environment surgery and deliver tailored training to a globally recognised standard. With the course having been tailored to match the advanced level of the surgeons and general practitioners and the quality of interaction being excellent, the team came away confident with the exceptional impact that it will have on the victims of the conflict.
Four Years of the David Nott Foundation
Today we are celebrating four years of the David Nott Foundation.
Thank you for your support; for four years of running marathons, training surgeons, technological pioneering and building global networks.
Throughout the week on social media we have been highlighting some of the achievements that we have made so far:
We have taken our Hostile Environment Surgical Training (HEST) course to nine countries, running twelve courses with seven partner organisations. The result of this has been that 543 doctors have now been trained in cutting-edge surgical techniques that, in conflict and disaster zones, will mean the difference between life or death.
Back in the UK, we have collaborated with the Royal College of Surgeons of England to produce six Surgical Training for Austere Environments (STAE) courses, bringing surgeons and doctors from 25 countries to London to complete this unique course. We are particularly proud that we were able to offer 62 full scholarships for these courses, widening our outreach and reducing barriers to accessing this life-changing training for surgeons who would not otherwise be able to participate.
Our global family of physicians, surgeons, doctors, donors and supporters is growing every day. The stories we hear from all involved are both humbling and inspiring. We look forward to the next four years with excitement and determination, and hope you will join us in our endeavour.
Conflict doesn't stop, and neither do we: we have helped to save 1.3 million lives and limbs but can help so many more. Find out how you can get involved and donate to the Foundation on our 'Get Involved' page, or suggest any fundraising ideas in an email to [email protected].