Second international conference on wartime medical services

Abstract

Provision of wartime medical services is influenced by the psychological as well as the immediate physical injuries caused by war. But the psychological trauma of war is much less clearly understood than direct physical injury. The Second International Conference on Wartime Medical Services concentrated on these broader, less tangible effects of war, particularly in children. UNICEF estimates that 80% of the direct and indirect victims of military action are children and women.

Other papers at the conference included reports on Israeli parents’ fears for their children, combat stress reactions in Israeli soldiers, the physical and psychological responses of 35 Iranian‐held American hostages and of Finnish veterans of the Finnish/Soviet war (1941–44), the nature of injuries to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and injuries from chemical attack in Iran and medical responses to these.

Key Words:

• War children
• Psychological stress process
• Hostages