“No one except the Israelis has taken any of my patients”
For lovers of Israel, it’s an almost surreal thing to read the headlines and hear off-hand comments in media reports about how the Jewish state is having such a crucial impact in Haiti. In this CNN report, reporter Elizabeth Cohen lends her satellite phone to a doctor desperate to arrange surgery for a dying survivor.
Lamenting the reality that families are over-joyed to find surviving relatives “only now to watch them die a slow, painful death,” because of the lack of medical assistance, Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Jennifer Furin tells the camera that “no one except the Israeli hospital has taken any of our patients.”
Moving into daylight, the report visits the Israeli field hospital–marked outside by a Jewish star in the grass–and says she’s “amazed. Just amazed.” She goes on to point out that the U.S. government–let alone United Nations–hasn’t set up any sort of similar facility.
But we think she’s missing the point. It’s not that the American response is lacking necessarily, it’s that the Israeli response is extraordinary — and disproportionately so. As the American Thinker points out:
The U.S. has pledged 100 million and sent supplies and personnel. The U.K. pledged $10 million and sent 64 firemen and 8 volunteers. China, a country with a population of 1,325,639,982 compared to Israel’s 7.5 million sent 50 rescuers and seven journalists. The 25 Arab League nations sent nothing.
Even though, history shows, this sort of extraordinary-ness is pretty in character for the Jewish state. [As we noted, Israel has sent such missions to Sicily (a 1976 volcano eruption), Cambodia (1979 refugee crisis), Mexico (the 1985 earthquake), Cameroon (1986 volcano eruption), Armenia (the 1988 earthquake), Ural Mountains (1989 train accident), Rwanda (1994 refugee crisis), Kenya (1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. embassy), and Kosovo (1999 refugee crisis). And this is just a partial list.]
Continues American Thinker: “The international agencies that condemn Israel for its “disproportionate response” when it is attacked are not mentioning Israel’s disproportionate response to human suffering.”
Israel’s “disproportionate” response stems…
Read More » Comments (1) »Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 3:26 PM | Stand For Israel
And he was called “Israel”
The IDF field hospital is currently the largest operating in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Although conditions are very bad, the team is experienced and there to help.
(See this astonishing–and not in a good way–report about how a cadre of UN doctors abandoned a hospital overnight–UN soldiers refused to stay and provide security–and CNN’s Sanjay Gupta ended up being the only doctor there!)
With capacity for treating up to 500 patients a day, the hospital has already delivered a healthy baby boy! The boy’s mother was 8 months pregnant but the baby is thriving — and his mother called him “Israel.” He was delivered by Maj. Dr. Shir Bar and Maj. Efrat Shayer.
Watch this video to see more of how Israel really impacts the world (in Hebrew with English subtitles).
And to Israel’s family, we say mazal tov!
Comments (1) »Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 5:31 PM | Stand For Israel
IDF Haiti team spends “Sabbath in Hell”
Pikuach Nefesh, the obligation to save lives, over-rides the commandment to not work on the Sabbath, and the members of the Israeli delegation in Haiti are doing both: Only four hours after the IDF Medical Corps team landed in earthquake-ravaged Haiti on Saturday and rapidly set up a large field hospital, the group was already treating dozens of patients.
The hospital includes an emergency room, internal medicine, orthopedic, obstetric, surgery and pediatric departments, the Jerusalem Post reports. The obstetric department was ready to function but had not received any patients by Saturday night.
The 121-member team includes 40 doctors, 20 nurses, 20 paramedics, as well as 20 lab and X-ray technicians and administrators.
“It is very difficult. There is a bad feeling of destruction. It is very sad,” said Lt.-Col. Dr. Itzik Reiss, the team leader.
Meanwhile, a six-man search-and-rescue recovery team had pulled eight students alive from a collapsed university building, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The head of the search-and-rescue team, Matti Goldstein, described Saturday’s experience as the “Shabbat (Sabbath) from hell.”
“You have to understand that the situation is true madness, and the more time passes, there are more and more bodies, in numbers that cannot be grasped. It is beyond comprehension,” he said.
Comments (2) »Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at 8:33 PM | Stand For Israel
Israel sends 220-member emergency team to Haiti
Two planes are set to take off from Israel for earthquake-ravaged Haiti today, bringing medical staff and search-and-rescue teams, along with supplies for a field hospital. The group, which is part of the IDF Medical Corps, plans on spending at least two weeks in the island country and expects to see an average of 500 patients per day.
According to the IDF, the 220-member team includes 40 doctors, 25 nurses, paramedics, a pharmacy, a pediatrics department, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, an emergency room, two operation rooms, a surgical department, an internal medicine department, and a maternity ward.
A five-man preliminary team left for Haiti on Tuesday to assess the situation, make arrangements and deal with logistics for the hospital and the group’s transportation and support. The hospital likely will be set up in or near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
“We assume that in the first stage we will deal with trauma patients and then the next round will be people suffering from infections and secondary illnesses,” Chief IDF Medical Corps Officer Brig.-Gen. Nahman Ash told the Jerusalem Post.
Because of Haiti’s limited medical infrastructure and the prevalence of communicable diseases, all members of the team received vaccinations to prepare them for the work ahead. No one yet knows the scale of the destruction in Haiti: Officials believe that a minimum of tens of thousands were killed during and immediately after the quake, many more were injured, and survivors have been left without food or shelter — and the country’s already limited medical system also sustained damage.
The planes will land on Friday and the field hospital will likely begin operations on Saturday. Soldiers from combat units are also being sent to provide security for the Israeli delegation.
Israel’s medical corps have a long history of humanitarian missions outside the Jewish State, including in Sicily (a 1976 volcano eruption), Cambodia (1979 refugee crisis), Mexico (the 1985 earthquake), Cameroon (1986 volcano eruption) , Armenia (the 1988 earthquake), Ural Mountains (1989 train accident), Rwanda (1994 refugee crisis), Kenya (1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. embassy), and Kosovo (1999…
Read More » Comments (2) »Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 8:25 AM | Stand For Israel
Israeli-made drones helping coalition in Afghanistan
This UAV--not a Heron--has been used in Iraq by American and British troops.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have played a key role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping coalition forces scout out terrorists and even launch attacks without putting soldiers’ lives in danger. In the next several weeks, Australian troops are set to use a new, Israeli-made UAV in their arsenal.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took delivery last month of 10 of the new “Heron” UAVs, along with mission payloads, Automatic Ground Control Stations and spare parts. The UAVs are set to be leased from Israel Aircraft Industries–Israel’s top-notch commercial and military aerospace company–for a year, with an option to renew the lease for an additional two years.
The RAAF chose the Heron from among a number of competitors after it successfully completed a series of tests of its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and expects:
… the Heron to significantly increase its operational capabilities in the war in Afghanistan. The Heron is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV that can remain airborne for over 30 hours with a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and carry a payload of 250 kg.
It has a wingspan of 16.6 meters, a takeoff weight of 1,200 kg, an operational range of several hundred kilometers, an automatic takeoff and landing system and according to IAI, is well suited to the challenging climate and conditions of Afghanistan.
Godspeed, Australians. And the UAVs too.
Comments (2) »Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 8:39 AM | Stand For Israel
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