Medical centers and health support organizations continued to be busy as
Operation Pillar of Defense proceeded on Sunday. Kaplan Medical Center in
Rehovot saved the arm of a man who was wounded by a rocket in Kiryat Malachi
last week.
Boris Chorneh, a Tiberias resident who came on aliya from
Tajikistan 15 years ago, was wounded by shrapnel as a result of the rocket when
transporting furniture from Haifa to the apartment that was hit. His moving van
was completely destroyed.
Chorneh lost a lot of blood and underwent an
operation that took several hours to repair the main arm artery and nerve that
had been severed.
The patient faces a long rehabilitation process in the
hospital.
Dr. Yoram Klein, head of the urgent surgery and trauma
department at Kaplan, said the patient had to receive several units of blood
before he could undergo the surgery.
Soroka University Medical Center in
Beersheba said that since the beginning of the campaign last Wednesday, it
treated more than 100 wounded, and that 16 – half of them soldiers – remain
hospitalized. A “camp” for children of the staff was opened so the parents could
work without worry.
Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon reported that
since the beginning of the attacks, it treated 74 people for wounds, most of
them light, plus 36 with anxiety attacks and two with blast
injuries.
Five people remain as inpatients.
On Sunday, 17 people
sent to Barzilai were suffering physical injuries and 15 suffered from anxiety
attacks.
Eli Beer, the founder and head of United Hatazalah who is in the
South along with other volunteers, reported on Sunday that they had treated a
fireman wounded in his head by shrapnel. The 36- year-old fireman was treated by
three UH volunteers who arrived 10 minutes before an IDF doctor arrived. They
couldn’t go into hiding while attending to the fireman, though missiles were
flying above their heads. Only two of the three volunteers had on bulletproof
vests.
The Israel Pychotrauma Center of Jerusalem’s Herzog Hospital
reported that it had received a request for help from parents in the South who
had difficulty calming their children during rocket attacks. Professionals there
decided to open their phone lines specifically for parenting issues, as they
have much experience over the past eight years helping families in
Sderot.
The first woman who called is a mother of eight children; another
mother called in panic, saying her daughter was called up for IDF reserve
service.
Beterem, the Israel Center for Child Safety and Health, urged
parents to take special precaution during the emergency to prevent injuries to
youngsters, which often happens in strange surroundings.
Children tend to
fall and suffer road accidents and burns in such circumstances of crowding in
shelters, different sleeping conditions and as a result of stress and
anxiety.
Children under the age of nine must not be left without an adult
even for a moment.
Always belt them into vehicles.
Keep fire,
medications, cleaning materials and other dangerous things out of their
reach.
The Tirat Hacarmel Mental Health Center has organized a support
group in its clinic for adults on how to cope with psychiatric patients at times
of stress. Psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals are giving
advice.
The Israel Medical Association has initiated a camp for children
(aged seven to 12) of doctors in the South so that while parents are busy
treating the wounded, their offspring can be safe and calm.
Social and
educational activities and trips have been organized.
The Health Ministry
and the National Insurance Institute are running a center to deal with people in
the South who are suffering from anxiety.
For more details, call 106 in
the area.
Magen David Adom on Sunday welcomed a team of 14 medics and
paramedics from New York who came to help and identify with the troubles faced
by Israelis.
They will join MDA teams at their stations in Ashdod,
Ashkelon, Netivot, Ofakim and Sderot. The New Yorkers have come for three weeks.