To: Tracy Nicholls OBE FCPara, Chief Executive, College of Paramedics

Subject: Joint Petition from UK Paramedics – Urgent Call to Action on the Gaza Crisis

Dear Ms Nicholls,

We, the undersigned paramedics, write with deep alarm at the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. As frontline emergency responders committed to preserving life, upholding medical neutrality, and ensuring the dignity of every patient, we feel a professional and moral responsibility to speak out with urgency and clarity.

As of May 2025, reports from the World Health Organization and United Nations confirm the near-total collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system: 94 percent of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed; over 71,000 children under five are projected to suffer acute malnutrition; and at least 57 children have already died of starvation since the intensification of the blockade in March. Emergency, surgical, and critical care services have been devastated. All of Gaza's hospitals have been either completely destroyed or significantly damaged.

Ambulance and pre-hospital care systems have collapsed. Patients are dying before reaching medical facilities. Emergency surgeries, amputations, and caesarean sections are being performed without anaesthesia, electricity, oxygen, or sterile instruments. Trauma systems are non-functional, blood products are unavailable, and the few remaining frontline teams are overwhelmed. These are not isolated failures. They are the foreseeable consequences of a deliberate blockade, the obstruction of aid, and repeated attacks on medical infrastructure and personnel.

These actions are grave violations of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the ethical obligations that bind our profession. They directly contradict the principles we uphold which are to preserve life, relieve suffering, and provide impartial care under even in the most extreme conditions.

While we appreciate the College of Paramedics’ leadership in professional development and education, the scale and immediacy of this crisis demand action that resonates with the core values of our profession. This moment calls for clear, public, and sustained leadership, not mere symbolism.

We therefore respectfully call on the College of Paramedics to:

• Publicly and unequivocally condemn the mass killing of civilians, systematic destruction of healthcare, and the use of starvation, siege tactics, and the deliberate targeting of healthcare infrastructure, personnel, and civilians.
• Publicly align with UN Security Council Resolution 2728 (March 2024), which demands an immediate and lasting ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, and protection of civilians and healthcare workers.
• Collaborate with peer colleges and global organisations to advocate for restoring emergency, surgical, and critical care services in Gaza and reinforcing healthcare systems in all conflict zones.
• Support legal accountability for those responsible for obstructing care, targeting ambulances, hospitals, and healthcare workers, and violating medical neutrality.
• Provide a platform for members of the College of Paramedics and other Royal Colleges to advocate, educate, and act, including issuing clear ethical guidance for clinicians responding to humanitarian catastrophes.
• Organise a national conference on health and conflict, exploring the realities of delivering emergency and pre-hospital care in war zones and besieged areas.

This is a moment that will be remembered, by our patients, our profession, and future generations. As paramedics trained to respond during crisis, we believe silence is not neutrality, it is abandonment.

We stand ready to support the College of Paramedics, in any action that upholds our shared values and defends the right to care, dignity, and life for all.

Sincerely,

 [The Undersigned]

 UK Paramedics and Pre-Hospital Emergency Professionals

 May 2025