written by Jim Smith, convener, Racial Justice subcommittee, UU Congregation at Shelter Rock
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset will host a program at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 with Dr. Ramin Pirouz, who volunteered at Nasser Hospital in Gaza for two weeks in August with the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA).
The program is not political but Pirouz will discuss the emotions he felt while treating casualties of the war between Hamas and Israel. He is director of critical care at the Calvert Health Medical Center in Frederick, Md. Pirouz spoke on Sept. 21 at Shelter Rock and was asked to return to speak to a larger audience. He spoke and answered questions about treating children and adults who were injured in explosions and collapsed buildings and others who died of malnutrition and lack of medical facilities.
“The worst casualties were all pretty gruesome,” Pirouz said. “The worst were the children, the casualties from the explosions.” He said he volunteered with PAMA, a Fairfax, Va., nonprofit, “because I felt I was uniquely situated and that my specialty would be useful. I work with a mobile clinic that provides free medical care for patients in southern Maryland who would otherwise be unable to get care…I was shocked at the sheer degree of the destruction. Even the buildings that aren’t destroyed are hollowed out, burned out…I worked in an ICU with 20 beds. There was netting over the patients’ faces, flies on their bedsheets. To see so many casualties of this nature is really shocking.
“Half of the patients that came in were dead,” Pirouz added. “There was the constant hum of drones, tank fire, gunfire, explosions. One brace of bullets hit the wall outside my sleeping quarters…My gloves broke. I was putting in tubes with my bare hands. Ventilator tubes were being used without sterilization. I was covered in blood by the end of the day. There was water and food scarcity. And disease. The number of casualties far exceeded the number reported.”
Pirouz was born in Teheran, Iran and has lived and gone to school in California, England, Cleveland and Maryland. He met Nicole Drezner, a former congregant at Shelter Rock, in medical school. They have three children. She now is a pediatric oncologist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Pirouz said he entered Israel from Amman, Jordan, on a bus with 22 other volunteers. Including about a dozen doctors. “It’s very difficult to get materials and aid inside Gaza,” he said. “There’s a lack of gauze and cleaning supplies. The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] have made a conscious decision to limit the amount of supplies and aid workers allowed to go in…There’s a big fear about cholera. The area is so enclosed [and populated] it could spread so fast.”
Asked if he feels he is suffering from PTSD or survivor’s guilt.” Pirouz said, “I feel like I’ve been able to deal with it pretty well. I worry about the trauma for kids who have lost parents. Some nights I have trouble sleeping. Seeing the injuries and deaths of the children haunts me.”
–Jim Smith, convener, Racial Justice subcommittee, UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Rd., Manhasset, for information, call 516-627-6560; free event will be held in the Veatch House Ballroom.