Israeli aid arrives in Haiti, field hospital set up

[IndianaGreen]

ABC News was just reporting tonight about how quickly and efficiently, the Israelis were able to set up field hospitals and started to treat Haitians, all the while the US relief effort is floundering.

Kudos to Israel!

Israeli aid arrives in Haiti, field hospital set up

The Israeli delegation landed in the capital of Port-Au-Prince on Friday evening (15 January) and established its operation center in a soccer field near the airport.

Two teams, comprised of search and rescue personnel and canine operators from the IDF canine unit were sent out on rescue missions. The first team was sent to the Haiti UN headquarters in order to assist in rescuing survivors. The rescue teams are working in cooperation with local authorities in order to reach disaster struck areas where survivors can be located and assisted.

The IDF Medical and Rescue Team set up a field hospital in Port-Au-Prince and is beginning to treat patients there. The field hospital is prepared to receive dozens of ambulances evacuating injured children from the different disaster struck areas. Between Friday night and Saturday, dozens of truckloads of medical and logistical equipment were unloaded and the field hospital set up.

On Saturday (16 Jan) the Israeli team rescued a top income tax official from the government office building which collapsed in the earthquake. The official, who had been trapped underneath the rubble for four days, is currently being treated at the Israeli field hospital. (see AP video)

The field hospital includes 40 doctors, 25 nurses, paramedics, a pharmacy, a children's ward, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, an emergency room, two operating rooms, a surgical department, an internal department and a maternity ward. The hospital can treat approximately 500 patients each day, and in addition will perform preliminary surgeries.

In the field hospital set up in Port-au-Prince, members of the IDF medical staff are in a race against time to save lives. The Medical Corps treated about 100 injured people. 30% of the injured in the hospital are in serious condition, 50% are moderately injured and the rest are lightly injured. More than half of the injured are under the age of 16. The majority of injuries are limb injuries and bone fractures. 10 life saving surgeries were performed.

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Israel+beyond+politics/Israeli_aid_arrives_Haiti_17-Jan-2010.htm

[Skittles]

1. nice

:thumbsup:

[DesertFlower]

2. good news. nt

[Ken Burch]

3. Glad they're doing it.

n/t.

[IndianaGreen]

4. I saw the ABC News report, and we could learn from Israel

They have specialized tents to provide health care, including one for pediatrics, and they set up quickly.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. They DEPLOY the team wiht the medical hospital

Take into account they are launching the equivalent of ONE DMAT... we are launching many, and not all of them full

Mot to be critical, they do well and always respond, but it is important to understand why.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Israel also has a not-for-profit national health service

which means they can muster medical personnel a lot quicker than we can. Let's also consider that Israelis are citizen-soldiers. Those IDF doctors and nurses will likely be back working at hospitals back home when this is over.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. There;s that but they are part of the Medical Command

the IDF has military hospitals too

[IndianaGreen]

5. Thanks to DUer HeresyLives for link to CNN video

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/01/18/dnt.cohen.haiti.patients.dying.cnn

[EFerrari]

8. This is cool but it's also telling that they didn't report on the Cubam team

that has been on the ground since last Thursday.

[11cents]

10. The very first CNN reports I saw did mention the Cuban team.

One reason the Cubans were in action so quickly is that there were already Cuban doctors and medics in the country. However, the point of this report is that the Israeli hospital has lifesaving equipment that the American (and presumably other) facilities lack. I doubt if the Cubans have ventilators, etc. There are definitely lessons to be learned here.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. They did, two days ago

[proteus_lives]

11. They must be capable of doing a great job.

All these familiar anti-Israel faces being positive about it.

[Randall Flagg]

12. Sure. But they're building in the Dominican Republic now.

Just kidding. It's a very good thing they've done.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Nancy Snyderman on Rachel Maddow commenting on how prepared the Israelis were

IDF unloaded full MASH units out of one 747 and got to work right away.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. I have seen them at work

they are impressive...

But they still work in a very different way than we do.

[Prometheus Bound]

16. On Monday the Israeli search and rescue team were said to have ceased their efforts.

Also on Monday, the Israeli rescue team dispatched to search for people trapped in the rubble of the deadly earthquake were said to have ceased their efforts, deeming the chances of finding more survivors after four days very slim.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1143436.html