RUTHFULLY YOURS

I knew we had found the IDF medical team as soon as we arrived at the hospital where they were working.  A fence surrounded the grounds; soldiers were stationed at the entry and sharp shooters were visible from rooftops.  Security is of paramount importance to the Israelis and they will survey potential sites for days to before one is selected.

As we walked up to the tent where incoming patients were being processed, I immediately saw the electronic medical records technology that I had first seen in Haiti.   Each patient’s medical record is created using a photograph to ensure accurate identification. This is especially important in these types of crisis situations. Language barriers, loss of documentation and the fact that patients have arrived from all over would result in a nightmare if the patients weren’t properly identified.

Smart. Sophisticated. Secure. This was what I had experienced with the IDF before.  But now I was impressed with something else: the place they had selected. This wasn’t a site where trauma surgeons were needed — those injuries in other towns were being addressed.  What the people of Bogo needed was good, solid medical care.  They were already living in poverty when the typhoon decimated their fragile infrastructure.

I asked the IDF Surgeon General in charge why they chose Bogo.  He said it was because they were poor and their needs were great. As I left, I walked away in awe of this group of doctors: physician humanitarians, and medicine at its very best.