Two premature baby girls weighing about 900 grams who were born to a Sudanese
refugee woman were saved this week at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Tzrifin in
a complex effort that involved the hospital, the IDF, Joseftal Hospital in Eilat
and the Health Ministry.
The woman gave birth during her 28th week of
pregnancy at the Eilat hospital.
Since the hospital is small, it could
not supply all the major services the twin girls needed to be kept alive,
including a pediatric intensive care unit.
Assaf Harofeh premature baby
unit director Dr. Eli Heiman, his deputy Dr. Rimona Kedar and a nurse
flew in an IDF Yasour helicopter to Eilat to bring the babies to Tzrifin. The
mother was left in Joseftal due to her condition; they are all now
stable.
Assaf Harofeh director Dr. Benny Davidson volunteered to save the
infants an incubator. An hour after being notified, the medical team members
were already in the helicopter, flying south.
“It isn’t easy to fly two
tiny premature babies in a helicopter,” he said. “Joseftal prepared them very
well.”