Surgeon returns from Syria and gives interview of his time treating patients

Mr David Nott, RCS course director for our Surgical Training in Austere Environments course, spoke of his experience operating in a hospital at the heart of Syria’s conflict on ITN.

In the moving interview he talks about gunmen shooting indiscriminately. He also discusses the training he delivered to doctors on the ground, leading to lives being saved.

Mr Nott has worked in conflict and disasters areas for the past 20 years including Haiti, Afghanistan, Congo and Bosnia. The RCS Austere Environments course – the first ever course of its kind in the UK –  aims to equip surgeons with knowledge and experience of a range of live-saving surgical procedures in these difficult environments.

The course, first run in August 2013, enables trainees and consultants to have hands on experience, as well as providing participants with intensive tuition covering all the surgical procedures that they may come across in the field.

Mr Nott believes clinicians who complete the course will gain transferable skills that will enrich and enhance their practice of surgery in the UK, as they will have a better understanding of the totality of the care the patient might need. Following deployment they will also be better prepared psychologically and practically in the event of an emergency at home.