The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) has partnered with the LEAP Foundation to create ISAPS-LEAP Surgical Relief Teams (SRT), a global resource comprised of surgeons and other medical personnel available to respond quickly to provide surgical care to victims in areas hit by natural and/or man-made disasters.
This week, SRT deployed its fourth volunteer team to Amman, Jordan, for a week-long surgical mission to treat injured victims of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis. Assisting Syrian and Jordanian surgeons in this current, ongoing effort to relieve a backlog of cases is an adjunct to the purpose of this newly created rapid response programme.
‘Surgical intervention by relief personnel within 48 hours after a disaster strikes is critical. Our network of plastic surgeons across the globe enables us to provide much-needed care for victims of crisis before organised surgical relief arrives,’ said Dr Tunc Tiryaki (Turkey), SRT Co-Founder. ‘Partnering with LEAP to leverage their global reach and rapid response experience has empowered us as a medical community to make a difference.’
ISAPS-LEAP deployed its first doctors to Jordan in October 2013 to support local physicians working with the Treating the Wounded Syrian Program at the Dar Al Salam Hospital in Amman. Subsequent teams were deployed in January, February and now this month from the USA and Saudi Arabia.
In total, these volunteers have evaluated over 150 patients, selecting more than 50 for surgery across the full surgical spectrum including traumatic blast and gunshot wounds to upper and lower extremities, hands and face. Over the next 6 months, ISAPS-LEAP Surgical Relief Teams will send an additional nine plastic and reconstructive surgical teams from around the world to treat wounded Syrians.
‘We are advancing our efforts as ISAPS-LEAP Surgical Relief Teams in order to make an even greater impact on the lives of victims of the Syrian crisis in need of our care,’ explained Dr Craig Hobar, SRT Co-Founder and LEAP Medical Director.
