It’s a sunny morning in Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarem, West Bank, Palestine. Over 20 women are filing into a room set up by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff, sitting in a circle and chatting over Arabic coffee. In the middle of the room, there is a table with gauze, tourniquet devices and charts explaining blood flow in the human body. This is MSF’s ‘stop the bleeding’ training.

Most women gathered in this room have little to no medical training, but trauma wounds and severe bleeding are not new to them. They are here to learn how to care for wounds, apply tourniquets, and provide basic first aid to family members and neighbours until they can reach medical care during frequent military incursions by Israeli forces.

“We experience raids, bombings, and injuries from shootings,” says Saeda Ahmad, a participant in the training. “We often have an injured person right in front of us. In such situations, it’s important for us to have the knowledge and background to properly administer first aid.”