Russian, U.S. officers to gather in Israel for war wounded panel

The October conference will be the first of its kind in Israel.

Wounded children in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria (photo credit: REUTERS/BASSAM KHABIEH)
Wounded children in a hospital in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria
(photo credit: REUTERS/BASSAM KHABIEH)
Russia, Israel and the United States might have tense relations when it comes to the ongoing Syrian civil war, but next month, senior military physicians from the three countries will gather in Israel for a conference aimed at improving treatment of patients injured in war.
The October conference will be the first of its kind in Israel. It will be based on experience gained at the Western Galilee Medical Center treating some 3,000 Syrians wounded during the war in Syria.
The conference will feature Prof. Vladimir Khominetz, chief orthopedist of the Russian military, and Dr. Joseph Hsu, a senior member of the US Army Medical Corps with an expertise in limb lengthening, deformity correction and trauma. Other participants from the IDF Medical Corps as well as the Health Ministry will also participate.
Western Galilee Medical Center director Dr. Mas’ad Barhum has said the treatment of wounded Syrians in recent years has forced the hospital to treat injuries and cases that until now were unknown in medical literature.
The hospital adopted a new medical method that combines orthopedic treatment with plastic surgery and vascular surgery, and its doctors have succeeded in saving wounded limbs at a higher rate than the global average.