Hadassah Rescues Injured Israeli Reporter In Georgia

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 14 Aug 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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In the span of 12 dramatic hours, Hadassah doctors raced to war-torn Georgia, rescued a critically injured Israeli reporter and flew him back to Hadassah Medical Center's intensive care unit at Ein Kerem, Jerusalem.

While standing in the main city square in the town of Gori, Georgia, journalists from around the world were caught in heavy fire. A Dutch cameraman was killed and Zadok Yehezkeli, a senior reporter from Yedioth Aharonoth, Israel's largest circulation daily newspaper, was severely wounded. Lying in the street and unable to move, Yehezkeli was driven by colleagues to a hospital in Tibilsi, some 40 miles away. Yehezkeli was given 16 units of blood and underwent two surgeries.

Yehezkeli's newspaper decided to send Israeli doctors to Georgia to assess their reporter's condition, and they turned to Hadassah for help.

At 9:00 pm Israeli time on Tuesday, August 12, Professor Avi Rivkind, Head of Hadassah's renowned Trauma Unit, along with Dr. Micha Shamir, a senior physician from the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, and a paramedic from Magen David Adom flew to Tibilsi. They took basic equipment and medication.

The doctors and paramedic arrived in Tibilsi about midnight, shortly after Yehezkeli's surgery. They found the reporter fully conscious. They introduced themselves to him and he nodded in recognition. Without delay they anesthetized him and performed fluid resuscitation, assisted by the local Georgian hospital team. Prof. Rivkind decided that the best thing for Yehezkeli was to fly him to Israel for critical care.

Dozens of reporters, photographers and TV camera crews were waiting at Hadassah for the arrival of the ambulance from Ben Gurion Airport. At 9:00 am Wednesday morning, August 13, the patient and his rescuers arrived at Ein Kerem, where Yehezkeli was immediately admitted to the General Intensive Care Unit. He remains in the ICU, ventilated and anesthetized, in serious but stable condition.

Israelis and Georgian Jews also Rescued

While Hadassah physicians were treating Yehezkeli, the State of Israel arranged to evacuate hundreds of Israeli citizens and Georgian Jews from the battle zone; they provided three special flights from Tibilsi to Israel. All have arrived safely.

Founded in 1912, Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, is the largest women's, largest Zionist, and largest Jewish membership organization in the United States. In Israel, it supports pacesetting medical care and research, education and youth programs, and reforestation and parks projects. In the US, Hadassah promotes health education, social action and advocacy, Jewish education , volunteerism and leadership skills, Young Judaea and connections with Israel.

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America

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