Soroka Medical Center: Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ of health

HOSPITAL SECURITY presented another significant challenge at Soroka. While security forces were engaged elsewhere fighting the terrorists, "Our small security contingency was very rapidly being called up to reserve duty," leaving them exposed. Nevertheless, the staff continued to work tirelessly as the casualties poured in.

The whole management team handled the day based on "What can go wrong?" Many unprecedented decisions were made, such as calling in the pharmacy team to prepare prescriptions to take some of the pressure off the nurses. Over 50 volunteers also came to help, some bringing food and drink.

"We planned for the worst possible scenario and met a scenario that was five times worse than we had expected," Codish said.

The staff was faced with "numerous single points of horror," which were hard to digest at that moment. Young twins were brought in alone, as their family had been slaughtered; and a 22-year-old pregnant woman was admitted with gunshot wounds to her abdomen which had killed her unborn child.

"Understanding the magnitude would probably have made it harder to continue to work," he said, especially because most of the staff live in the surrounding towns and villages.

"In the first few weeks, our homes were threatened," which made it very personal.

Soroka lost two staff members on Oct. 7, and others in the days that followed. Dr. Daniel Levy, a resident doctor in the ENT department, was murdered in his clinic on Kibbutz Be'eri while caring for community members. Dr. Eitan Neeman, a senior physician in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), was killed in action the day after. Two retired nurses were murdered in their homes on Oct. 7.

AS WELL as caring for wounded soldiers, Soroka treated six hostages after their release from Gaza in November."Because Hamas gave no indication of what the medical condition of the hostages was, we only found out once they crossed into Israel and an Israeli doctor had a chance to evaluate them to see if they were going home or not."

Soroka received siblings Maya and Itay Regev, aged 21 and 18 respectively, as well as two Bedouin teens, Aisha, 16, and Bilal El-Ziadna, 18, whose father and another sibling remain in captivity. One particular hostage, 85-year-old Elma Avraham, who arrived at Soroka after 51 days in captivity, is in serious, life-threatening condition."She arrived within an inch of her life," Codish said.

"We saw Elma lifted from the Hamas vehicle to the Red Cross vehicle, and we knew it was likely she would arrive here. She was airlifted immediately and arrived in a coma. She wouldn't have survived another day in Gaza."

Codish explained that "she had significant bone damage on her heels from being dragged along the floor.""The lack of basic medication brought her to this condition," he stressed, as otherwise she "doesn't have any conditions that are rare or uncommon among her age group."

This appalling situation "raises the question of how are the other people coping – or are they still alive so many months later?" Clearly troubled by the thought, Codish mused, "As a society, we need to be very concerned and look at Elma as an indicator of what else might be going on [with the remaining hostages]."

The intensive care doctors at Soroka form part of the tight-knit group of physicians across the country who specialize in this medical field. Group members assist each other by sharing ideas: "Our initial work – what worked and what didn't work – is widely shared so people can learn and prepare," he said.

Sharing information with medical professionals abroad is a different matter altogether. Having spoken with doctors in the United States, Codish has formed the impression that "people don't understand the sense of urgency needed to prepare for such events."

Not only does Soroka take care of the physical needs of its patients, but it also provides mental health support for them and for its staff. "Soroka probably has the best resilience unit in Israel," Codish stated.

"When we announce a mass casualty incident, the resilience team [social workers, mental health staff, and specifically trained personnel] shows up and follows everything that's going on."

The team has been on hand to advise heads of departments and others on how to identify team members who might need help.

Investment in this area is something that Soroka takes very seriously. As it is the only medical center with a Level 1 Trauma Unit in the area, "we need to be prepared for everything."

"Our capabilities are well known," Codish said.

"From a medical point of view, we've been building strength at the medical center with support from the world – building new units, new capabilities, increasing mental health resilience."

This article was written in cooperation with Soroka Medical Center.