Israel Saves Lives in Haiti

Dr. Ofer MerinPic: Dr. Ofer Merin

“A small, not rich country, we were the only ones to send a medical delegation within the first week”, said Dr. Ofer Merin.

It is a story of harrowing heroism, brilliant ingenuity and heart rending emotions. Last Tuesday, the audience at Shaare Shomayim sat enthralled, proud and moved beyond words, as Dr. Ofer Merin, Chief of the IDF Field Hospital described how Israel responded in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Hundreds of lives were saved because of their swift professionalism and expertise. A CNN reporter, her voice trembling with emotion said, “It’s like another world (the IDF hospital) compared to the others.”

Only hours after the quake struck, the medical team prepared itself. Three doctors were sent ahead to reconnaissance a site and found a soccer field. So as not to waste time, the entire operation was planned while still in the air, a 14 hour flight from Israel – Merin with some 230 people, including IDF nurses, physicians and medics, one of the largest medical units in Haiti at this time. Later Israeli volunteers flew out to help them. Zaka came so that they could bury the dead with dignity. Israeli clowns came for the children.

They landed in Port-au-Prince on the afternoon of Jan. 15 but had to wait for a separate cargo plane loaded with medical equipment, which arrived at four in the morning. “By 10 a.m the next day we were ready to start treating patients,” Merin said.

Less than 80 hours after the quake, the hospital was set up and fully operational. “We were the only group to set up like a real hospital, complete with a surgical wing.” He attributes Israel’s quick response and extraordinary organization to their training in emergency preparedness. “We drill year after year so we have the mentality to be alert.”

They were shocked and overwhelmed by what they saw. Countless hundreds were lying wounded in the streets. Haiti with nine million people is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Three million were affected by the quake. One million were left homeless. Over 300,000 were wounded. “Patients were brought in on doors, in wheelbarrows, carried in peoples’ arms,” he said.

They thought of everything. “We were the only ones able to do X rays,” he said. “We had a small lab, ultra sound equipment, incubators. Even a shul. Everything we had was donated to Haiti after we left.”

Using 12 laptops, they devised a bar code like in supermarkets and were able to identify each person. They also took a picture of each one. “We had exact knowledge of the patients,” he said.

But in this desperate situation, they had to be flexible, come up with creative solutions and think outside the box.

There were no beds for the babies, so they used large plastic bowls from the kitchen. “Most of the surgeries were limb surgeries,” he said. “But in such a poor country amputees have no money for prostheses so we had to do our best to salvage limbs. Special nails brought from Israel for this purpose were gone in four days. So Reuben, the head nurse took pins to the blacksmith and showed him how to make the nails. They worked just the same as the original.”

They drove around looking for casts, which were gone in a couple of days and which nobody had. Somehow they discovered that the Moroccan embassy had 3,000 of them.

A baby was bleeding for lack of Vitamin K which was unobtainable. One of the Israeli doctors gave his blood and the baby was saved.

He spoke of the agony of choosing who should be treated. “Thousands were lying on the streets with no medical care. We had only 80 beds. By the end of the first day we were full. Normally you treat the worst patients first. We had to choose those that had the best chance of survival.” Not that they always stuck to that.

To cope with the emotional stresses which were exacerbated by lack of sleep, heat and the crisis environment, decisions were made in a group. And every morning for a half an hour, they got together to speak about their emotions.

Within a few days, the Haitians were beginning to recognize the blue and white Israeli flag, and every time a car passed them with that flag, the Haitians applauded.

Dr. Jeff Saltzman from Toronto was in Haiti volunteering in a hospital from Miami. “It was chaotic, no labs, not computerized - writing on scraps of paper. The Israelis were incredible.”

Merin, a cardiac surgeon, was Chief of the Israel Defense Forces Field Hospital in Haiti and Deputy Director General and Trauma Surgeon at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem. He trained for two years at Sunnybrook hospital and lived here with his wife and four children. Many of his friends and colleagues came to hear him speak. Dr. Bernard Goldman, who was just awarded the Order of Canada, introduced him to the audience.

His presentation was sponsored by the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foudation and community partners Shaarei Shomayim Congregation and The Speakers Action Group and UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

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