Helping the Blind to See: More Miracles from the IDF in the Philippines

Pterygia  is a disorder among people with exposure to sunlight and wind.  Farmers, fishermen, and people living near the equator are often affected. This non-cancerous growth starts in the clear, thin tissue of the eye, and if untreated, can cause blindness   This week, the  Israeli medical delegation in the Philippines has managed to restore the eyesight to four people who were blind as a result of pterygia.  The delegation originally did not have the proper instrumentation to treat this disorder, but classic Israeli ingenuity prevailed.  Existing surgical instruments were modified and adapted successfully in an effort to treat these patients.  Read about it here

As of today,  2452 patients have been treated in the IDF Field Hospital. Over a third of them have been children.  52 surgeries have been performed.

Visit  the IDF in the Philippines web page for live updates on Israels' the humanitarian mission, or follow them on twitter, using the hastag  #IDFinPhilippines

Julie Pearce is a  nurse from Duluth  who ventured to the Philippines, in the hope of aiding the typhoon victims. Instead she joined the IDF field hospital.  She writes of her experience here:

What we have found is that we are treating fewer and fewer medical conditions related to the typhoon. We have seen a good share of septic wounds improperly cared for, post-typhoon in unhealthy living situations, as well as undiagnosed fractures. My day was spent splinting and sewing up several people, mostly injuries from the cleanup and the random girl who fell out of a coconut tree.

The IDF has essentially turned a developing world, rural hospital into a fairly modern-day medical facility in just 48 hours, all in the context of a major disaster. They have integrated electronic records, ultrasound, digital X-ray, a fairly sophisticated laboratory, an active surgery suite and incredible medical staff with varying specialty backgrounds. I’ve been mainly working with the orthopedic specialists and surgeons. We have been treating a lot of septic wounds, fractures and fresh wounds from falls, motorcycle crashes and — particularly — soft-tissue wounds sustained in the process of the local residents’ cleanup efforts; machetes, axes, things falling, the list goes on.

These specialists are also offering treatment for chronic conditions that the rural health system here would never have been able to support. A woman with stage 4 breast cancer that was eating through her breast tissue had a mastectomy performed. A man’s mouth tumor was treated and much more. These lives saved may, in a small way, offset some of those tragically lost. For a patient pre-typhoon, these would all be fee-based hospital visits; fees that most in a lifetime would never be able to afford.

The IDF in the Philippines. One more reason to be a proud Zionist

The IDF in the Philippines: making miracles happen

Philippine officials have been overwhelmed by the scale of Typhoon Haiyan which tore a path through the central Philippines last week  The typhoon, one of the strongest ever to make landfall killed nearly 4,000 people, and many more are missing.  Over 1 million people have been displaced and have no access to food, water or medicine.  Many nations, including Israel  have stepped in to help

The IDF- the Israel Defense Force- sent a 148 person delegation to the Philippines on Wednesday in order to provide search, rescue and medical services to the typhoon ravaged nation. They brought with them over 100 tons of supplies. in response to super-typhoon Haiyan and  have set up a “multi-department medical facility” to provide medical care.  The facility includes an x-ray room, a children's department, an ambulatory care department and birthing facilities and is staffed by IDF doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, mental health professionals, x-ray technicians and lab workers. The IDF humanitarian mission completed the set-up of the hospital earlier Friday .


The medical team from Israel is already making a difference.  The first baby born at the Israeli Defense Forces field hospital in the Philippines was delivered safely on Friday. The parents  named the boy Israel., declaring "We chose the name "Israel" just to say thank you to the Israeli people." Nearly 400 were treated on its first day.
 NBC news correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports from the Philippines:

 I’ve always been fascinated by how well the Israeli Defense Force, otherwise known as the IDF, delivers emergency response medical care in extremely poor conditions.  My first experience with the IDF was in Haiti after the devastation of the earthquake there. They were remarkable then, triaging and treating patients in the midst of the devastation.

I wondered if they had found their way here -- so we set off to find them. And when we did, it was in a place we least expected.

The IDF had selected Bogo, a small village on the northern island of Mactan, to establish its emergency response center. Bogo had been hard hit by the devastation but it hadn’t attracted as much attention as other towns.  It was definitely off the beaten path...

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.

 The IDF. Making us proud. Again.

Israel Sends aid to Typhoon ravaged Phillipines

The death toll from Super typhoon Haiyan is expected to reach 10,000.  There are critical shortages of food, water and medicine throughout the hardest hit areas of the Philippines. Nearly 800,000 people have been displaced.  The devastation is vast.   Yet within 48 hours,  Israel had medics on the ground in the island archipelago. An Israeli search and  rescue team is also assisting the efforts to locate survivors.

Now Israel's IDF  has sent a Boeing 747 with 234 doctors, nurses, paramedics, and much needed medical equipment and supplies. They are  planning on setting up a field hospital to aid the injured in the Philippines. Col. Ramtin Sabati, who commands the National Rescue Unit, and  deputy Medical Corps chief Col. Dudu Dagan, will supervise the operation.

 From the JPost

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Generoso D.G. Calonge expressed appreciation on Tuesday for the assistance Israel has offered to his storm-ravaged country, saying it made him “so happy.”
“I can’t describe the feeling right now... that my host country cares about our stricken people,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

The American Jewish community is also  mobilizing, and is collecting donations for relief efforts . Donations can be sent to:

Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund,
The Jewish Federations of North America,
Wall Street Station, PO Box 148, New York, NY 10268

The American Joint Distribution Comittee   will ship food, shelter, hygiene and medical supplies through its partners, the Afya Foundation and Catholic Relief Services and will also be provide "School in a Box" kits for temporary classrooms for displaced children through its ongoing partnership with UNICEF.

JDC P.O. Box 4124 New York, NY 10163 
Make check payable to JDC.
Please write “Typhoon Haiyan Relief” on your check.

Additionally, you can donate directly to IsraAID's efforts here. You can donate in dollars (change the currency at the drop-down box from NIS to USD).

For live-updates of Israeli efforts in the Philippines check out the IDF blog.  They make us proud.