Hadassah Updates on the Ground in Poland

HADASSAH EMERGENCY MEDICAL OPERATION TO TREAT UKRAINIAN  REFUGEES

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Nobody can be unaffected by the conflict in Ukraine, so this year Hadassah UK have decided to split our appeal to also support Hadassah Hospital’s Humanitarian Medical Mission in Lublin, Poland and on the Ukrainian Border.

In response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis, Hadassah Hospital have sent a team together with medical supplies within a week of the start of the Ukrainian war, to Lublin Hospital near the Polish/Ukrainian border and a forward base at Przemysl right on the border crossing point.

This was to initially assess the medical needs of the Ukrainian refugees and help train the Polish medical teams in mass casualty triage & A&E, an area that Hadassah has specialised knowledge and experience gained in the Intifadas and wars.

The team are assessing the resources and personnel that will be needed to treat the Ukrainian refugees and a second team following up have been flown out from Hadassah Hospital. The two delegations of Hadassah doctors bring with them an intimate knowledge of wartime and disaster relief medicine and the physical and human infrastructure needed to handle sudden large mass influxes of patients.

Hadassah UK’s and your support is critical to ensuring Hadassah can continue to help the Ukrainian people with their medical needs. We are committed to helping for as long as we are needed.

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Here are the latest updates from our team in Poland:

March 14th -Day three on the frontlines. A visit to a refugee centre, filled with four to five thousand Ukrainians who fled their war-torn country for a safe haven in Poland, marked the third day of the Hadassah’s humanitarian mission.

At the refugee centre, located in one of the Polish border towns in what used to be a small shopping mall, the atmosphere was characterized by anxiety, sadness, stress, and despair. Dr. Yaarit Ribak, a senior Hadassah physician with a specialisation in internal medicine and clinical immunology, quickly began seeing patients — treating colds, stomach problems, COVID-19 — since there were no other doctors on hand to care for the victims when she arrived.In addition , the team from Hadassah also includes Dr. Asaf Kedar, senior physician with expertise in trauma and acute care surgery .and Dr. Shaul Beyth, senior orthopedic surgeon.“It’s sad to see the refugees’ pain,” Dr. Ribak says. “But, at the same time, I am happy that now I can do something for them.”

March 11th – Hadassah starts to see patients in a refugee centre. Hadassah’s Dr. Yaarit Ribak and Jorge Diener arrived on Friday 11 March, beginning Hadassah’s active mission with refugees operation. There are thousands and thousands of mothers, children and grandparents in what used to be a small shopping centre. Dr. Yaarit is seeing patients as there were no other doctors to care for situations on the spot. With only 48 hours on-site, the three physicians—Dr. Shaul Beyth, Dr. Asaf Kedar, and Dr. Yaarit  Ribak—comprising the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO)’s initial humanitarian mission to Poland have already had a major impact. “You see the despair on the refugees’ faces,” notes Dr. Beyth, “but when they hear the name Hadassah and that we have arrived to help, the people breathe easier because there is someone to rely on.”

March 9th – a webinar was held for the general public of live updates from the Hadassah delegation in Poland. Hadassah’s Dr. Beyth explained that there are three objectives for their “voyage to this near-war zone”: to establish connections with their peers in the Medical University of Lublin, the city’s largest hospital, just 70 miles from Poland’s border with Ukraine; to assess the needs of their Polish colleagues in providing trauma services to the refugees; and to support the refugees with basic humanitarian care. “They have no money, no food, no warm clothes, no medications,” Dr. Beyth related. And this small delegation has already begun meeting these objectives.Dr. Kedar explained that their Polish medical colleagues have told them that there is a big gap in their ability to deal with a mass casualty event, as millions of Ukrainian refugees cross the border into Poland. They have expressed a need for training in disaster preparedness—a need Hadassah is prepared to meet. LISTEN HERE

March 8th – The first Ukranian refugees arrive in Israel, a couple and their young son from Kiev, are airlifted to Hadassah, Jerusalem for emergency treatment after their building was hit.

March 7th – Hadassah sends an emergency delegation to southern Poland. The four-person delegation are based at the Medical University of Lublin, the city’s largest hospital and just 70 miles from Poland’s southern border where over 2 million refugees are currently being processed. The Team are sharing their experience with the local medical teams in how to triage trauma patients and work with the Lublin hospital to assess the resources and personnel that will be needed to treat the Ukrainian refugees. The Israeli doctors bring with them an intimate knowledge of wartime medicine and the physical and human infrastructure needed to handle sudden large influxes of patients. The Hadassah team is made of experts in different areas, such as general surgery, trauma, orthopedics and internal medicine, and will assist the local specialists with disaster management on a mass scale, including logistical support and providing supplies.

READ MORE HERE

March 3rd – Hadassah sends medical supplies to Poland. At the request of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, and thanks to contributions from generous supporters, the Hadassah Medical Organisation donated $25,000 in medical supplies, which were airlifted to the Polish border with the help of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv, to treat injured refugees.