{"id":23162,"date":"2025-10-04T09:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resqship.org\/?p=23162"},"modified":"2025-10-04T10:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T08:02:52","slug":"criminalization-costs-we-are-looking-for-support-to-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resqship.org\/en\/criminalization-costs-we-are-looking-for-support-to-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical assistance on the NADIR: between swell, exhaustion and responsibility for human lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Newsletter from October 04, 2025: <\/em><\/p>\n

Today we would like to use the newsletter to draw attention to those who have provided medical care and treatment to over 950 people<\/strong>in the last two years: the team of doctors at NADIR. <\/p>\n

But how do you actually experience a mission as a doctor on the NADIR, on board a search and observation vessel? What challenges, but also special moments, does this task entail between swell, exhaustion and responsibility for human lives? <\/p>\n

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Dr. Rachel Austin, an emergency doctor from London, reports on one of her missions:<\/strong>
Imagine the scene: It’s the middle of the night and the NADIR comes across an overcrowded rubber dinghy, half full of water; people are perilously perched on the deflating floats. The wind is howling, the waves are crashing; some of the people on board speak French, but it’s hard to understand each other in this weather.
The people report that a woman is ill – our powerful searchlights illuminate tired faces on the inflatable boat, but it’s hard to make out who they’re talking about. <\/p>\n

This is precisely one of the major challenges as a doctor on board: how can you assess potential patients under such conditions? Is someone seriously ill? And if so, how can we approach them and treat them without capsizing the inflatable boat and endangering even more lives? <\/p>\n

The dinghy is in danger of sinking. We have to take everyone on board. Somehow 65 people are crammed into this tiny boat. They have already been at sea for three days, the last one without food or drinking water. At the first triage, we find several dehydrated children and babies, a pregnant woman with abdominal pain. Most of them have suffered severe fuel burns. When gasoline mixes with salt water, it creates a corrosive liquid that attacks the skin and often penetrates into deeper layers. People sit in it for days, so legs, buttocks and genitals are most often affected. The burns are often extensive and deep, often covering more than 15% of the body surface. Women and children are particularly hard hit, as they usually sit inside the boat, where it is supposedly ‘safer’. <\/p>\n

The first step in treatment is to wash off the gasoline. My colleague and I have to triage the cases, decide who gets access to the three showers on board first, before we clean the wounds and treat them with special dressings. My attention is required in all directions at the same time – I have to examine and treat the pregnant woman and the dehydrated children, treat burns and at the same time decide whether someone is so seriously ill that we need to request an urgent medical evacuation ashore. The salon where I have to carry out these tasks is packed with an overwhelming crowd of people and resembles an obstacle course of sleeping women, crawling babies and crew members. Despite the open <\/em>window, it’s as stuffy as a sauna. A gust of wind tears off the bandage I’m working on. This doesn’t happen in my hospital in London. I try to insert a cannula, but the boat hits a wave, I miss and have to apologize. I keep seeing warning signs: could this person be a victim of human trafficking? We have so many people on board with burns that I fear we are running out of bandages. The saloon, the hospital on the NADIR, smells of gasoline and vomit, and I haven’t slept in 24 hours. Have I perhaps overlooked a serious case? We’re still 20 hours from land. <\/p>\n

It is difficult to fully describe the experience of being a doctor on the NADIR: Being prepared for any medical eventuality – in such a remote location, under such extreme conditions. At the same time, I am always overwhelmed by the strength and resilience of the people we meet, who have endured such extreme danger and hardship. Bringing these 65 men, women and children safely ashore and providing them with care, medical assistance and dignity is a privilege. <\/em>
– Rachel Austin<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dr. James Watson was the attending physician on the mission before the Nadir was first captured. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He remembers those days in the port of Lampedusa – stuck, while at the same time distress calls were constantly being received on the radio. James describes the situation like this: <\/p>\n

The time during the detention was unbearable. It’s as if there was an invisible wall. You hear about these cases through the radio traffic, which are really harrowing, you hear it in the voices of the people who report it. Every one of these cases is really scary and involves people whose lives are in danger. And then you just sit there and can’t do anything about it. It’s not the sea rescuers who are responsible for this, but the European governments and their isolationist policies. For doctors, one thing is clear: we have sworn an oath to help – and yet European policy repeatedly prevents us from doing just that.
-James Watson <\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Would you like to help our medical team care for people in distress at sea? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel, James and all the medical staff volunteer on board the NADIR, treating people found in distress at sea, mostly suffering from seasickness, dehydration, injuries and, above all, chemical burns. The medical resources and consumables required for this humanitarian first aid incur costs for us as part of our missions. <\/p>\n

You can support us here: With a donation of just \u20ac50<\/strong>, we can<\/strong>finance the treatment of an adult with severe gasoline-salt water burns<\/strong>, consisting of rinses, ointments, painkillers and special bandages. <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Especially in these times, we need financial support. Every donation helps us to be able to help people. Is it even possible for you to support us regularly? Become a supporting member and stay close to our association’s work.
Are you curious to find out more about our medical missions? <\/p>\n

Press review and podcasts <\/strong>
Here you can find more reports from our doctors and paramedics – to read and listen to: <\/p>\n