Nine senior medical personnel from Shaare Zedek Medical Centre have reached the earthquake zone in Katmandu, Nepal. The delegation is part of the IDF Medical Mission dispatched in the wake of the humanitarian disaster which struck the region on Saturday. The delegation includes Shaare Zedek’s Director General, Professor Jonathan Halevy who was invited to direct the Internal Medicine Wing within the IDF Field Hospital. He will supervise a staff of 11 Israeli doctors and a team of nurses and support personnel. They plan to establish the Field Hospital immediately adjacent to an existing medical facility in Katmandu which suffered extensive damage in the quake. Significant effort will be placed on disease-control methods with the understanding that disaster zones often fall victim to the spread of epidemics. In that regard, Professor Halevy will be working in close tandem with Dr. Tamar Lachish, Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Shaare Zedek. The Medical Director of the Field Hospital will be Dr. Ofer Merin, Deputy Director General at Shaare Zedek and an expert in Trauma Medicine. Dr. Merin is a veteran of IDF medical relief operations having supervised field hospitals in Haiti, Japan & the Philippines all the recent overseas disasters and the IDF Field Hospital established on Israel’s northern border for the treatment of victims of the Syrian civil war.
In advance of take-off Professor Halevy said “In the many decades that I have been privileged to serve as a physician as well as an IDF officer, I can honestly say that I have never felt this degree of anticipation as for what awaits us in Nepal.” “While I know it will be a challenging professional and personal experience, we hope it will bring significant relief to those in need and offer a sense of pride for the important role that the IDF and the State of Israel can offer others in these times of need.” Upon landing in Nepal he said “I am truly proud to be here. We will be setting up adjacent to the Katmandu military hospital. We come with a fully-equipped hospital that will enable us to treat the victims of this disaster and we fully expect to see conditions that we wouldn’t ever see in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. These are patients suffering from diseases that result from a massive disaster and come about following inadequate hygiene. We also may see the influence of tropical diseases.” Included among the Shaare Zedek personnel who will take part in the IDF mission:
• Prof. Jonathan Halevy- Director General, Expert in Internal Medicine
• Dr. Ofer Merin – Deputy Director General and Director of Trauma Services
• Dr. Tamar Lachish – Director of Infectious Diseases Unit
• Dr. Sefi Mendelowitz – Department of Pediatrics
• Dr. Avi Alpert – Department of Emergency Medicine
• Prof. Amos Peyser – Director, Department of Orthopedics
• Dr. Giora Weiser – Pediatric Emergency Department
• Dr. Harel Arzi – Spine Unit
• Deganit Kovliner – Nurse, Department of Emergency Medicine