The survey, conducted by online news journal The Marker, comes at a time of increased terror attacks in Israel. 24 people have been killed with over 1100 people wounded in these brutal attacks.
Shaare Zedek’s trauma expertise, together with its central location, has resulted in us treating the majority of victims injured in these attacks. At such a troubling time it is important for us to share with you some of the miracles we have witnessed in Jerusalem’s busies ER and the stories of the doctors and nurses who perform this life saving work.
Dr Ofer Merin is the Deputy Director General of Shaare Zedek and Director of Trauma Services at the Kennedy Leigh Shock and Trauma Unit. He manages the trauma response to emergency situations and has kept us updated on the current situation. On his recent visit to the UK he told us just how difficult a job he has, not only treating victims of terror, but often the perpetrators of these attacks. We heard Dr Merin talk first-hand about the passion and dedication it takes to save lives.
Dr Merin and his team were praised for their “unwavering sensitivity” by an Israeli news crew who shadowed the team for 96 hours and witnessed the complexities of caring for terror victims and their families first hand. This included watching Dr Merin and his team working together with the family of severely injured Shoshana Haim in order to determine the best way to break the devastating news that her husband had been killed in the same attack that had left her so badly injured.
In the film our Head Nurse of ER Naama Bagrish recounts the profound impact the patients have on the lives of the team. She recalled one particular patient killed in a terror attack that had no visitors. On realising he was “all alone in the world” Naama worked with ZAKA and other networks to publicise funeral details to ensure he would have a respectful burial. Hundreds of people came, including some of the ER staff and Shaare Zedek nurse Deganit gave the eulogy.
Despite the sadness there are many shared moments of joy between our doctors and their patients’ families. Moshe arrived at the hospital in critical condition, having been stabbed in the neck. Dr Merin and Naama described the whole team’s huge sense of pride and happiness in seeing him leave the hospital a week later standing on his own two feet. When saying goodbye to Moshe and his pregnant wife, Dr Merin expressed his hope that the next time they visit Shaare Zedek will be for a much happier reason, the birth of their baby.
Meir was another terror victim who arrived at the hospital in such a severe state that he was “holding his intestines in”. On being discharged from hospital Dr Merin told Meir how much he and his team would miss his smile and his joy. As heartbeat went to press we had just received the incredible news that Michal Froman, the pregnant victim of a stabbing attack is being released from hospital with her unborn baby also in good health. Your support for our Emergency Department has allowed us to give Dr Merin, Naama and their team the best equipment and facilities available to save as many lives as possible. Thank you. These stories and others are captured in this film “96 Hours with Shaare Zedek’s Trauma Unit”