IDF Battles on in Haiti

Israel Defense Forces doctors and rescue workers have continued to pull survivors from the rubble of the Haitian earthquake last week.

IDF doctors have set up a hospital on a soccer field in Port-au-Prince, the Hatian city that was ravaged by the 7.0+ earthquake.  While the 22 person rescue team has worked for days without rest, the hopes of finding living survivors is shrinking.  Dehydration would prevent most trapped survivors from living more than four days.

Among the death and wreckage of the town, a small miracle took place.  At the IDF hospital, an injured woman gave birth to a healthy child.  Life will, in fact, go in in Haiti.  One Israeli worker said:

“When I went out on rescue yesterday I saw what was happening in the streets, the bodies, the people who didn’t know what to do. It’s obvious that the work is very intensive and I assume that we could burn out at a certain stage. But for now we’re full of energy and we’re thrilled by our ability to help.”

The Israelis are working hard to help both young and oldrecover from one of the worst disasters in several years.  An article in Ha’aretz discusses the two week mandate and the fast turnaround rate for patients.

“We’re all thinking about the fact that we discharge them into the street, in effect, because they have no home,” says Dr. Avi Yitzhak. “But you have to make the right decision: Either you take in 40 people and treat them for two weeks or you try to save as many as possible to at least stop the primary injury.”

Quotes and second photo from Ha’aretz.