JERUSALEM (Press Release)– Shaare Zedek Medical Center announced that four of its senior medical personnel have been dispatched to Haiti as part of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s search and rescue mission to the earthquake ravaged region.
Dr. Ofer Merin, recently named Deputy Director General at Shaare Zedek and Director of the hospital’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Program, has been charged with directing surgical activities in the Israeli field hospital in Port-au-Prince. Dr. Merin is a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF’s Medical Corps where he runs field hospital operations. He is being accompanied by Gali Weiss, Head of Nursing Services at Shaare Zedek and a former career officer in the IDF’s Homefront Command who will also be involved with directing nursing activities in the field hospital.
In addition, Dr. Doron Goldberg, a senior Physician in the Wilf Woman and Infant Center and an accomplished OBGYN will be involved with rescue operations in his field. Dr. Ehud Lebel, Director of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery will similarly be responding to the desperate need for experts in pediatrics.
Shaare Zedek Director General Professor Jonathan Halevy saluted the four saying, “This tragic disaster requires a massive response from people all over the world and we are proud that our doctors and nurses will be among those able to help the people of Haiti,” he said.
Dr. Merin is charged with designing all emergency preparedness protocols for the hospital. A highly accomplished and nationally recognized trauma surgeon, he is also responsible for running Shaare Zedek’s Trauma Unit. As Jerusalem’s most centrally located major hospital, Shaare Zedek plays an integral role in the area’s emergency management and regularly drills for a wide variety of potential disasters.
The hospital has recently launched a major project to develop the Dr. Jack Matloff Family Disaster and Emergency Response Center. This ambitious project will create a comprehensive emergency preparedness and disaster management center. It is designed to act both as an urgent care facility for mass casualty incidents, conventional, chemical and biological and an educational resource for medical professionals and first aid responders to train them in optimal approaches for emergency preparedness.
“The fact that our senior medical professionals have been chosen for this mission in Haiti is an important indicator of the central role played by Shaare Zedek in the realm of emergency management.” Professor Halevy said. “We wish them all the greatest of success in this mission and look forward to their safe return as soon as possible.”
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Preceding provided by Shaare Zadek Medical Center