Supplies of a state-of-the-art medical material to help treat badly injured civilians at one of the only operating hospital trauma centres in under-siege Gaza will be arriving shortly thanks to a unique partnership of support linked to Bahrain.
Elected lay representative of the Gulf and businessman David Axtell, a long-term Bahrain-based British health consultant, handed over initial packages of a pioneering new gauze bandage to the Most Rev’d Dr Hosam Naoum, Archbishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. The Palestinian church leader has been visiting the kingdom for the consecration and enthronement at St Christopher’s Cathedral of Bishop Sean Semple.
The gauze will be used on burnt and bloodied patients at the bomb-damaged Al Ahli Arab Hospital – also known as The Arab People’s Hospital – in Gaza City, managed by the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and supported by parishioners in Bahrain.
Mr Axtell, from Saar, has been in contact with One Minute Medic, an international company focusing on new innovative technology in medical sciences, led by former Olympian Wayne Seybold, and helped liaise between the parties. He believes it will become an essential tool as medics assist the victims of the Israeli bombardment of the territory. “I was just happy to bring like-minded people together during this traumatic time,” he said.
Zeolite Hemostatic gauze is particularly beneficial where a tourniquet cannot be applied. Zeolite provides a platform for the assembly and activation of coagulation factors, which is highly similar to the role of platelets in the physiological processes.
As the gauze is applied to a wound the zeolite particles form a protein corona activating the coagulation pathway. In other words, it accelerates the clotting process and, therefore, stops bleeding faster.
During clinical trials on patients with open trauma massive bleeding the Zeolite gauze had near perfect efficacy and was concluded as effective with no side effects, leading military medics to recognise this amongst the 10 leading technologies.
One Minute Medic is initially supplying 300 packages of the gauze to Archbishop Hosam for use in the Al Ahli Hospital with a commitment for additional contributions once logistical challenges for distribution are overcome. The founders of One Minute Medic told the GDN they are ‘committed to providing supplies equivalent to 10 per cent of all commercial sales in the region to other worthwhile causes which will be distributed under the guidance of newly-elected Bishop Sean Semple’.
Peter Watts, award-winning founder of Solutionize and long-time business partner of Wayne Seybold, is directing the outreach programme from One Minute Medic into the region, commented to the GDN from New York. “The plight of those suffering in Gaza is distressing and we feel moved to use our expertise in whatever way we can,” he said. “We hope this is the starting point for the provision of expanded offerings in the future,” he added. “In addition to these products we are already trying to find ways to leverage existing support hubs we have created to provide trauma counselling both to refugees and those that have been helping them on the ground.”
The development offers a much-needed boost to the brave medical teams still trying to help the injured in Gaza despite the great danger to themselves. Last October, an explosion took place in the parking lot of the courtyard of Al Ahli Hospital during the Israel–Hamas war, resulting in a large number of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there being killed or injured.
The Rt Rev’d Sean Semple, Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, said: “This is a wonderful initiative, and One Minute Medic’s contribution is a blessing to those most in need, and to the Church, and it also speaks of a most creative and generous faith. The concept of a corporate tithe is both generous and inspiring and I hope that such contributions will encourage others to give, and enable the church to contribute more effectively to the common good in society.
“Provision of healing, whether physical, psychological or spiritual, is a core tenant of the Christian faith. I am delighted to be supporting the work of Archbishop Hosam in our sister Diocese of Jerusalem and, in due course, would hope to extend this outreach to the humanitarian support the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf provides in Baghdad and Yemen.
“During my time in the Kingdom of Bahrain I have been incredibly moved by the warmth and generosity of welcome by His Majesty King Hamad and the people of Bahrain. I hope that different faith groups can find ways to use initiatives like this to support the needy, in line with the King’s vision for peaceful and positive co-existence. Bahrain is a shining example of interfaith tolerance and co-operation in the world.”
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