Health & Fitness
Terror Readiness
Israeli Style
N
o nation on Earth has
the experience with
terrorism prepared-
ness as does Israel. This is why
15 American doctors travel to
Israel to train with the Israeli
Defense Forces (IDF) Medical
Corps twice a year. I had the
good fortune to be one of them
in 2008.
After 20 years in medical
practice, I went back to school
in November. Well, sort of. I
attended the terrorism pre-
paredness course sponsored by
the American Physicians Fellowship and
hosted by the Israeli Ministry of Health
with the IDF Medical Corps. It was actu-
ally more like boot camp than class, but
it was one of the pre-eminent and most
rewarding weeks of my professional life.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when
I decided to join colleagues from 10 other
states to take this course. My high expecta-
tions were immeasurably surpassed. We
spent the week with the chief of trauma for
the entire IDF and the Israeli Minister of
Health and his top advisers. We were based
out of Tel Aviv where each day started very
early with a bus trip to a new destination.
Getting Prepped
Our first day was at the nearby Belinson
Medical Center, where we participated
in an annual chemical weapons attack
drill. We visited many medical centers,
including Rambam in Haifa and Barzilai
in Ashkelon. We toured an amazing 200-
bed underground hospital at the Western
Galilee Medical Center, located just stone's
throw from the border with Lebanon.
At IDF bases, we studied the many les-
sons learned by Israel involving national
preparedness, point of attack care and
trauma triage techniques. Our group
trained at the famed Chaim Sheba Medical
Hospital Medical Simulation Center,
known as MSR in Tel-Hashomer. MSR is
the brainchild of a retired IDF Air Force
fighter pilot, Dr. Amital Ziv. The patient-
mannequins in these simulations breathe,
have pulses and are connected to sophisti-
cated computers. Behind one-way mirrors,
IDF medical personnel manipulate the
mannequins' vital signs in an environ-
ment that feels like real lives are at stake.
Professional actors were used
in chemical and bio-terror-
ism drills where we diagnosed
"patients" (with smallpox) and
chemical weapons' exposure
(Sarin gas) while garbed in full
Hazardous Materials (HazMat)
suits, masks and thick rubber
gloves. Even simple procedures
like intubations, drawing up
syringes and starting field IV's
are very difficult to perform
under such circumstances
— it's hard to imagine doing so
under fire.
Taking Stock
Everything was documented by Web cams
and microphones for eventual scath-
ing critiques from IDF doctors. Once we
moved past the chagrin of being criticized,
we began to learn from each experience.
The Israelis spare no one in this regard. It
is this endless scrutinizing of everything
military and medical that has elevated
Israel's skill to so high a level.
Another highlight, albeit a tragic one,
was our visit to Sderot.
Sderot received a lot of press in the
recent war with Hamas. It is located just
seven miles from Gaza and has been
bombarded with Kaytusha rockets for
years. The IDF warned us that a visit
there was dangerous; but despite the 40
rockets that landed there the day before,
we decided to go. We wanted to meet the
Sderot citizens, EMS providers, doctors
and particularly the psychiatrists that
risk their lives on a daily basis to serve
their fellow citizens under such horrific
circumstances. One-third
of Sderot's residents suf-
fer from Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Most poignant was our
quick visit to an empty
playground where a huge
bomb shelter made to
look like a colorful and
inviting snake was smack
dab at its center — there
are only 20 seconds to
take cover when the
rocket alarm signals. For
these children, the daily
threat of death is a tragic
reality; at home, at school
and even on the play-
ground.
It was abundantly
clear that in Israel, there
is no discrimination in
treatment; terrorists and
enemy prisoners are
treated exactly the same
as an IDF soldier or civil-
ian — differentiated only
on urgency of medical
Dr. Weisman, suited up for a chemical weapons drill
need. In Nahariya, Dr.
Masad Barhoum, the CEO
of the Western Galilee
needed. Herein lays the primary reason
Medical Center told us; "We don't talk
that Israel is willing to provide so many
peace; we do peace. All people are treated
of its highest ranking professionals and
equally, even the terrorist. Here, Muslim
national leaders to accommodate us.
Palestinians, Druze and Arab Christians
The Terrorism Preparedness course
work side by side with Jews".
is a win-win relationship —American
physicians improve our own prepared-
At The Ready
ness at home and Israel cultivates a group
The AFP maintains a registry of American of dedicated doctors who can seamlessly
doctors prepared to go to Israel if they are integrate into their medical system in dire
emergencies. Six APF doctors flew to Israel
to contribute their skills during the 2006
Lebanon War.
The AFP is an organization (since
1950) based out of Boston. Its Web site
is apfmed.org. It welcomes charitable
contributions without which this valuable
program would not endure. ri
Dr. Weisman, a physician out of Royal Oak-
based Beaumont Hospital, is board-certified in
both Family Medicine and Geriatric Medicine.
His private practice is in Madison Heights. His
book "re-United States-A Common Sense Guide
for America in the Age of Terror," will be pub-
lished by Sterling & Ross this spring.
A Sderot playground bomb shelter
NN
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February 5 • 2009
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