In Syria, obviously security was also on the top of the list of priorities to be looked after and I have to say I learned the hard way on a couple of things in this area. We had some unfortunate incidents where people came in with weapons.
Our field hospitals in Syria are ‘undercover’. Initially, we were running a hospital inside a cave then it was moved into a non functioning farm – a better location and we could adapt it to reduce the risk of shrapnel or mortar fire.
We just finished a medical mission in the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. My friend and fellow anaesthetist looked at me incredulously after learning that I accepted a medical assignment to Pakistan with MSF.