A Syrian field hospital in Douma

A Syrian field hospital in Douma

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First published December 2015.

A few years before the war, Damascus residents were starting to sell their houses in the capital and move out to places including the nearby city of Douma where hospitals, schools, restaurants and parks were thriving.

As the conflict began, life in Douma was turned upside down. Amid continuous shelling of the city in the past three years, medical services have deteriorated.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Medical staff that has stayed on is making enormous efforts to keep on working in the battered city, which is controlled by rebels battling to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Although Douma’s hospitals were serving civilians, they were struck regularly in government air strikes. The doctors transformed basements and shelters into makeshift medical facilities. The Unified Medical Office for Douma runs these centres and provides them with medical equipment.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

I first visited the makeshift field hospitals in 2014 after I was injured in the face when the city of Mleha in Eastern Ghouta was bombed in fierce battles between the Syrian army and insurgents over control of the town. I was cared for by one of the last ophthalmologists in the region.

Then I started to work at the medical centres as a photographer for the Unified Medical Office, witnessing cases I’ve never seen before.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters
The body of a dead man lies inside a field hospital after what activists said were air and missile strikes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unidentified warplanes hit Douma on 13 December, and surface-to-surface missiles fired by the Syrian army also hit the surrounding areas, including Eastern Ghouta.

When I was there after this attack, dozens of victims, mostly women and children, were brought in.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

The loud cries of pain from patients who had lost their limbs or eyes rang in my ears during the night. These were the events of only one day during three years of continuous shelling of Douma.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Medical treatment happens in makeshift facilities across the city: an emergency centre, other facilities for operations, incubators, an intensive care unit and clinics. Moving between these sites is not easy because of continuous shelling.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

The Unified Medical Office in Douma runs the facilities and provides medical equipment sourced locally since the start of the siege that has prevented delivery of medical supplies to Douma from government-held areas. All equipment was taken from hospitals that operated in the city before the war; however, the equipment becomes less efficient with every passing day.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

The medical staff in Douma is comprised of the few doctors who haven’t left the country and medicine students who couldn’t carry on with their studies because of the war. Retired medical staff lends a hand, as do new nurses being trained on the job.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Shrapnel injured a woman, eight months pregnant, before the 13 December attack. After being rushed to the emergency centre, she died during treatment. Her baby, moved to the incubator unit, survived. As the recent shelling targeted the incubator unit, the baby’s dad cried bitterly, saying that he feared for the future of the newborn child.

. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Witnessing the medical work in the city made me wonder how the doctors can keep working in these incredibly harsh conditions. When I asked them they would answer that no doctors faithful to their profession would ever refrain from doing this humanitarian work.

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Slideshow

Blood drops are seen on the staircase of a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Blood drops are seen on the staircase of a field hospital.

An injured girl is transported in an ambulance.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured girl is transported in an ambulance.

Men look at an X-ray.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Men look at an X-ray.

An injured child holds coins in his hand.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured child holds coins in his hand.

Medics treat an injured child.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Medics treat an injured child.

An injured child sits inside a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured child sits inside a field hospital.

A man uses a mobile phone to light a boy’s head as a medic performs surgery.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A man uses a mobile phone to light a boy’s head as a medic performs surgery.

A school bag that belongs to an injured student lies on the floor.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A school bag that belongs to an injured student lies on the floor.

A medic tests patients’ blood.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A medic tests patients’ blood.

An injured man rests inside a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured man rests inside a field hospital.

An injured man lies on a bed.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured man lies on a bed.

An injured man sits inside a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured man sits inside a field hospital.

An injured boy receives treatment.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured boy receives treatment.

A man sits in a medical supply room.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A man sits in a medical supply room.

Doctors pray inside a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Doctors pray inside a field hospital.

A tray of food left by medics lies on the floor inside a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A tray of food left by medics lies on the floor inside a field hospital.

The body of a dead man is seen in a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

The body of a dead man is seen in a field hospital.

Medics treat an injured man.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Medics treat an injured man.

An injured man waits to receive treatment.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

An injured man waits to receive treatment.

The body of a dead man is seen in a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

The body of a dead man is seen in a field hospital.

Medics rest after after what activists said were air and missile strikes in the Douma neighbourhood.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Medics rest after after what activists said were air and missile strikes in the Douma neighbourhood.

A woman carries an injured baby born in a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A woman carries an injured baby born in a field hospital.

A baby lies in the neonatal unit of a field hospital.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A baby lies in the neonatal unit of a field hospital.

Damage is seen inside a nursery for newborn babies.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

Damage is seen inside a nursery for newborn babies.

A seringue is pictured outside a damaged nursery for newborn babies.
. Damascus, SYRIA. Reuters/Bassam Khabieh

A seringue is pictured outside a damaged nursery for newborn babies.