The Bradley International Humanitarian Law Action Campaign hosted “Save Our Services” as part of an annual series of interactive educational simulations in Bradley Hall last Saturday and Sunday.
The IHLA campaign is an American Red Cross youth program.
“This is our third campaign on campus, and our previous campaigns have dealt with topics like child soldiers and refugees and how international law intersects with those groups,” IHLA campaign member Akshita Sankepally said. “This year, we are trying to bring more awareness to the Bradley community about the rules of war and how healthcare is protected by international humanitarian law during times of conflict. ”
Attendees traveled through several rooms in small groups guided by a member of the IHLA campaign. Role-playing was a prominent part of the simulation and attendees were asked to take on the role of a doctor working in an area of conflict.
“In one scenario, we had to decide the correct order to treat five patients based on their symptoms and injuries,” junior civil engineering major Antonio Aguirre said. “It was really tricky and made me appreciate how difficult it is to be a doctor having to work on the fly in a warzone.”
Another room held a recreation of a shootout and quizzed attendees on the rules of neutrality in regards to healthcare professionals.
“The quiz was pretty easy,” Aguirre said. “A lot of it was just common sense. For example, it was really obvious that neutrality permits a doctor to use violence to defend himself and his patients, but neutrality does not allow a doctor to use violence offensively.”
The simulation also included videos and articles and concluded with a Q-and-A session with Bob Wiltz, the lead volunteer for the Red Cross chapter of central and southern Illinois.
“It is important for everyone to think globally and to understand international law so that we can hold countries who transgress them accountable,” Wiltz said. “This is especially true for us in America. The United States used drone strikes against a hospital in Afghanistan this October and killed several Doctors Without Borders staff members. As citizens, we have to hold our country accountable for this.”
Wiltz said he hopes attendees absorbed some of the values of the Red Cross.
“The Red Cross has seven fundamental principles, and the first one is humanity,” Wiltz said. “Humanity means that we must try to prevent and alleviate human suffering without discrimination, no matter how or where or when it occurs. I think this is a noble principle and one that we should all strive to uphold.”
For more information about the Red Cross and international humanitarian law, students can visit www.redcross.org/what-we-do/international-services.
