British medical volunteers working in Venezuela have reported scenes of acute distress and physical injury in triage units, as the country’s health system buckles under a protracted economic and political crisis. Speaking to international colleagues, the doctors described 'panic attacks' among patients and 'multiple fractures' from falls caused by uncontrolled seizures, reflecting the collapse of routine care.
Dr. Helen Richards, a London-based emergency physician who recently returned from a Médecins Sans Frontières mission in Caracas, said the triage system has become a 'brutal sorting process' where patients with treatable conditions are left waiting for hours or days. 'We saw individuals with severe asthma, diabetic ketoacidosis, and traumatic injuries who had been waiting for over 12 hours in corridors. The lack of basic supplies like oxygen and sterile dressings meant that even minor wounds became infected,' she said.
Another doctor, who requested anonymity due to security concerns, noted that panic attacks are 'commonplace' among patients and staff alike. 'The constant shortage of electricity, water, and medicines creates a sense of terror. People are hyperventilating, not from the medical condition but from the sheer hopelessness of the environment.'
The team documented cases of patients with uncontrolled epilepsy who had sustained fractures after falling during seizures, because no anticonvulsant medication was available. 'We had a 22-year-old woman with a fractured skull after a convulsive episode. She had not received any treatment for her epilepsy for six months,' the doctor added.
The situation is emblematic of Venezuela's wider humanitarian catastrophe. Years of hyperinflation, sanctions, and political turmoil have decimated public health infrastructure. The World Health Organisation has reported that nine out of ten Venezuelans live in poverty, and the health system operates at less than 40% capacity.
International aid agencies have called for unimpeded access to the country, but the Maduro government has often resisted entry of foreign medical personnel. However, the British doctors said they were allowed to work under the auspices of a non-governmental organisation, albeit with constant surveillance.
'Every day we were confronted with ethical dilemmas: who gets the last bag of saline, who gets the only available ventilator. It is a system that breaks the spirit of both patient and doctor,' Dr. Richards concluded. The accounts add to mounting evidence that Venezuela's health crisis is deepening, with far-reaching implications for regional stability and global health security.
