Kunduz Trauma Centre

The Kunduz Trauma Centre was a hospital operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Kunduz, Afghanistan from 29 August 2011 until 3 October 2015 when it was destroyed in an airstrike by a United States Air Force AC-130U gunship.

Kunduz Trauma Centre
Médecins Sans Frontières
Geography
Location	36.7180°N 68.8623°E / 36.7180; 68.8623, Kunduz, Kunduz, Afghanistan
Organisation
Type	General
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	140
History
Opened	2011
Closed	2015
Links
Lists	Hospitals in Afghanistan

Before the bombing, the MSF's hospital was the only active medical facility in the area.^[1] It has been the only trauma center in northeastern Afghanistan.

In 2014, more than 22,000 patients were treated at this emergency trauma center and more than 5,900 surgeries were performed.^[2]

Facilities

The hospital was opened on 29 August 2011 with 55 beds, two operating theatres, an intensive care unit, and X-ray and laboratory facilities, with separate male and female inpatient wards.^[3]

By late 2012, the number of beds had increased to 58.^[4]

When it was destroyed, the centre had added a third operating theatre.

July 2015 incident

In a previous incident, on 1 July 2015, heavily armed men from the Afghan National Army attempted to arrest three patients by entering the compound with weapons, physically assaulting three staff members and threatening one staff member at gunpoint. According to MSF, approximately one hour later the armed men left the hospital compound without the patients.^[5]

Evacuation and shutdown

The US airstrike in October 2015 made the hospital unusable. All critical patients were referred to other providers, and all MSF staff were evacuated from Kunduz.^[1][2]

References

1. Wang, Amy X. (4 October 2015). "The Aftermath of the Airstrike on Doctors Without Borders". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
2. "Afghanistan: MSF demands explanations after deadly airstrikes hit hospital in Kunduz", MSF (4 October 2015).
3. Afghanistan: MSF Opens Surgical Hospital in Kunduz Archived 2015-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, MSF
4. An Orthopaedic Surgeon's experience in Afghanistan MSF – Kunduz Trauma Centre, Ihab M. Emran, sicot.org
5. Afghanistan: MSF condemns violent armed intrusion in hospital in Kunduz, MSF

External links

• Official website
• ‘Look for Hospitals as Targets’: The historical record suggests that the US bombing of an Afghan hospital was no accident. Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine Greg Grandin for The Nation. 5 October 2015.
• Médecins Sans Frontières releases internal review of the Kunduz hospital attack^{[permanent dead link]}, 5 October 2015.