“I want to heal and go home”: Red Cross Field Hospital in Gaza grapples with unprecedented wave of mass casualty incidents

At times, hundreds of people flood the Red Cross Field Hospital all at once. The chaos is distressing for the families of the injured, and most of all, for children. Dr. Sally, a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Field Officer at the hospital, often sees young children arrive in tears, overwhelmed by fear as they watch their loved ones suffer. In these moments, the MHPSS team steps in to offer immediate care, taking small but essential steps to restore a fragile sense of safety amid the turmoil.

“During mass casualties, we try to support them (the children) with basic psychosocial support, to help them to sit, to be calm, to wash their face, or drink water. This is what that we can provide, and we remain with them until they can calm down,” Dr Sally said.

Other children regularly come into the field hospital with injuries themselves.  

“One child, six years old, lost his mother, father, and sister. He had only one remaining sister, and he himself was injured in his leg. He stayed three weeks in the denial phase and did not accept that his mother and father had been killed. I tried to work with him, offering psychological sessions to gradually help him accept the deaths of those in his family – even to express his feelings instead of repressing them," Dr. Sally said.

"Eventually, he began to engage in recreational activities like colouring and playing, and he engaged with the team. These stories stay with us and affect us when we see them.”