Gift of the Givers presents first conference of its kind in the world — Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters

The Centre for Global Surgery at Stellenbosch University, in collaboration with Gift of the Givers, held an exclusive two-day conference on Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters on 27-28 May 2023, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

The exclusive two-day conference on Preparedness for Humanitarian Disasters was led by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman and his team, using real missions to teach logistical, medical and ethical principles of working in disaster settings.

The conference covered the various aspects of disaster intervention, including the role of medical teams, trauma counsellors, dieticians, K-9s, etc, in search and rescue, as well as discussions on war evacuation, hostage negotiations and ethics. The Centre for Global Surgery has an interest in training surgeons to work in humanitarian disasters, where surgical care is unavailable, but needed.

Dr Sooliman, founder of the Gift of the Givers, said, “There was an overwhelming response to this conference, which reflects a real need for all parties involved in disaster management relief to be ready to handle a real life disaster situation, should it occur in our country, such as the Boksburg Tanker Explosion and KZN floods.

“We are grateful to the CTICC for sponsoring the venue that accommodated the large numbers that the event attracted, as well as to the various service partners of the CTICC for sponsoring associated services to host this conference.”

Over the two days, invaluable information was shared, punctuated by Q&A sessions, covering topics such as ‘Adaptation and medication in crisis situations’; ‘Navigating the torso without a compass’; ‘Orthopaedics out of the box’; ‘Anaesthesia in Disasters: a matter of life and breath’; ‘Wound care’; ‘Emergency nutrition’; ‘What to do when there is no ICU’; and ‘Doctor! Help me! They have no space.’

A wide range of delegates from different disciplines attended the conference, including academics, heads of department, disaster management teams from municipalities, health care workers and students. Dr Sooliman said: “This was one of the first conferences of its kind in the world, and was an excellent educational workshop on real life disaster situations,” he added.

Taubie Motlhabane, chief executive officer of the CTICC, commented: “We believe in the great work that is done by the Gift of the Givers, and it was an honour to have an opportunity to partner with them once more. In true Ubuntu spirit, our partners, Bidvest Prestige, AV Networks, ER24 and Evsol once again came to the party to sponsor various services required for the conference.”