American Physician Fellowship Delegation Visits Rabin Medical Center

Dina Albour, Trauma Coordinator, RMC with Aaron Karov

The American Physicians Fellowship (APF) for Medicine in Israel is an organization founded by American physicians and healthcare professionals who are committed to fostering ties between the North American healthcare community and Israel's healthcare system.

Several times a year the APF provides the opportunity for American physicians to receive training and take a Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Course in Israel, in conjunction with the Israeli Ministry of Health and the Medical Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Recently a delegation of 31 doctors from leading medical facilities throughout the USA came to Rabin Medical Center to participate in this course. They were hosted by Dr. Boaz Tadmor, the Director of Rabin Medical Center's Beilinson campus, who has been involved with the APF for many years, specifically in their program which provides fellowships for Israeli physicians abroad.

Presentations were made by the hospital's leading Emergency and Trauma professionals including Dr. Efrat Harlev, Deputy Director and Head of Emergency Services, on mass casualty deployment and the need to be ready for all emergencies; Dr. Michael Stein, Director of the Trauma Unit, on management of mass casualty incidents in the Emergency Department; Dina Albouar, Trauma Coordinator, spoke about the challenges of her profession and the need to help the family as well as the patient, and Prof. Pierre Singer, Director of the General Intensive Care Department, talked about intensive care management following a mass casualty/emergency event and the importance of providing optimal medical care to save these patients, who often suffer from complicated injuries and diseases.

The climax of the program was when Dr. Steven Jackson, senior Rabin Medical Center neurosurgeon, told the miraculous story of 22 year old paratrooper Aaron Karov, married only a few days before the Gaza War in January 2009 and probably the most critically injured IDF soldier in this war. The delegation viewed vivid pictures of the severely wounded Aaron when he was first brought to the hospital. Dr. Jackson, an observant Jew, said he felt that God was truly with him during Aaron's lifesaving brain surgery, and that he considers Aaron to be a true hero of our nation. But no picture was necessary when at end of the presentation Aaron Karov himself walked into the room, healthy and well. Everyone one stood up and began to clap in what was an unbelievably emotionally moment and there were few dry eyes in the room. Dr. Eyran Halpern, CEO of Rabin Medical Center, was also present for this very special occasion.

Perhaps Aaron Karov symbolizes the importance of the work of Rabin Medical Center's entire medical team in times of emergency and trauma as well as in everyday life, as they continue to constantly save lives and confront new medical challenges.

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