Dr. Tom Potokar, the International Committee of the Red Cross’ chief surgeon who is currently working in the European Gaza Hospital, detailed the challenges they are facing in a phone interview with ABC News Live on Friday.
Potokar, who specializes in burn treatments, said they have seen “many, many” burn cases, adding that the number of burn patients is “relentless” and “not slowing down at all.” The patients with burn injuries have been all ages, with the youngest they’ve seen just 4 months old, he said.
“A lot of them have burns involving the face as well, and the limbs,” Potokar said. “These could be quite deep burns, as I say, so will lead to significant scarring potentially in the future if they actually survive.”
Potokar, who has been a war surgeon in Gaza before, said the damage is “far, far” worse and in a “completely different stratosphere from how I’ve ever come across it before.”
He said the way they are treating burns is “not ideal” under the current circumstances due to limited medical supplies.
“The way we’re treating burns is really stepping back 40, 50 years,” he said.
-ABC News’ Josh Ascher, Kelly Johnstone, Casey McShea and Michelle Stoddart
