Gali Weiss at right, Head Nurse at Shaare Zedek treating a patient in the Port Au Prince IDF Field Hospital.

Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center hosted a Clinical Conference highlighting the experiences of the four hospital medical staff members dispatched to Haiti as part of the IDF’s relief mission in the wake of the January earthquake. 

Dr. Ofer Merin, a head trauma surgeon and Deputy Director General at Shaare Zedek, opened the forum describing the scope of the Israeli delegation which was involved with hundreds of surgeries and was completely in place only eighty hours after the ground shook.  Through some never before seen photos, Dr. Merin showed a fully operational field hospital including radiology and maternity facilities, the likes of which caught the attention of international media amazed at the level of preparedness demonstrated by the Israeli medical teams.

Dr. Gali Weiss, Head Nurse at Shaare Zedek, who served a comparable role at the IDF Field Hospital in Port Au Prince, focused on the extremely difficult conditions in the city and the emotional challenges that came with working in such a setting.  Describing intense heat and language barriers, Ms. Weiss, who came to Shaare Zedek following serving as a career officer in the IDF, presented a highly moving photo collage showing the many children who the doctors and nurses treated during their two week stay in the Haitian capital.

A large majority of the medical cases presented were pediatric cases and almost all of those were orthopedic injuries so the experience of Dr. Udi Lebel, Director of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery was particularly relevant.  He similarly spoke of “the challenges of performing complex surgeries in a tent set up on a soccer field.” The conditions mandated more primitive sterilization techniques but every effort was made to maximize patient safety. He described a shift system but said that sleeping was always difficult with continuing aftershocks.  “I believe we were able to help many people and save many lives and give them the necessary immediate care.  Much work of course remains to be done in Haiti but I believe we have done a great deal of good," he said.

Dr. Doron Goldberg, an OBGYN resident at Shaare Zedek, was involved in deliveries in the “maternity ward” and showed some of the hope-filled aspects of the Israeli operation. He similarly explained the challenges of being unable to adeuetly cope with complications in deliveries and many ethical questions of how to best treat their cases but also with many happier endings than on other parts of the city.

Watching a clip from CBS News describing the IDF hospital as the “Rolls Royce of emergency medicine,” the audience broke out into loud applause.  Pointing out how advanced the Israeli operation was believed to have been, Dr. Merin even highlighted a case where another hospital actually referred a patient to the IDF’s care.

Professor Jonathan Halevy, Director General at Shaare Zedek described the mission as a source of pride both for Israel and the hospital.  “The fact that four of our doctors were chosen for this effort and served in leadership positions reflects very positively on our role as a top medical provider and particularly for our capacity as an emergency response center," he said.

Shaare Zedek is currently involved with an ambitious development project to create the Matloff Family Disaster and Emergency Response Center. This facility that will allow the types of expertise gained in Haiti to be put into practice in both an operational and educational framework.

For more information please contact jeremy@szmc.org.il