Opinion | As Hong Kong police and protesters clashed in Chinese University war zone, medical volunteers showed how to respond to a crisis
- The Geneva Conventions stress neutrality, impartiality and independence in the delivery of humanitarian assistance
- In retrospect, the scenes at Chinese University resembled a war zone. Hong Kong urgently needs an independent mediator to resolve the crisis
Within a few minutes, my wife, who is a general practitioner, her best friend who is an anaesthetist, and I were driving there. The road shortly after the Lion Rock tunnel was impassable but a system of motorcycle transport was in place to ferry medical personnel.
The scene on campus had all the hallmarks of a war zone: noise, confusion, urgency, the sound of gunfire, smoke and flames. Yet, amid the mayhem, a medical disaster response system had been established.
Humanitarian medical assistance is not partisan. The Geneva Conventions stress neutrality, impartiality and independence in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. The injured — irrespective of whether they are police, protesters, members of the public or reporters – should be treated according to clinical priority.
A medical disaster response requires an incident command centre, which had already been established at Chinese University, with subunits for direction of operations, planning, logistics and transport of supplies and personnel.