Hadassah’s COVID Warriors – Blog by Photographer Ariel Jerozolimski

Visiting the coronavirus ward at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, I observed doctors, nurses, and other staff. They are truly heroic – and very tired.

The coronavirus is still here.

The numbers keep dropping and sometimes we forget that in the last year-and-a-half more than 8,000 Israelis have died from COVID-19, including 11 in the past day.

This is a war that is possible to win by getting vaccinated, using masks and maintaining hygiene, but many in the population haven’t taken the vaccine. The vast majority of the patients in the intensive care units of Israel’s hospitals are citizens who have chosen not to get the vaccine.

We are used to wearing masks, but they are still uncomfortable. Imagine the doctors and nurses who wear them through 12-hour shifts.

Imagine them working with facial protection that makes it difficult to see.
Imagine them wearing extra-protective clothing for long hours.
Imagine them taking care of their patients for hours without going to the toilet.
Imagine them working without taking a break for coffee or even a cup of water.
Imagine them resuscitating a patient in these conditions.
Imagine them working with the risk of getting sick and bringing the virus home to their families.

I spent part of a shift with the amazing and outstanding staff of the Coronavirus Intensive Care Unit and the Coronavirus Dept. at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Centre in Jerusalem. One shift spent with all this very uncomfortable equipment is equal to many regular shifts. These doctors, nurses, technicians, nursing aides, and cleaners are fighting an invisible, but lethal enemy.

After this long struggle, they’re really exhausted and need support — support that’s very simple for us to give: it’s called a vaccine. Get vaccinated.

Dr. Marc Romain, Senior Physician at the Coronavirus Intensive Care Unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Centre in Jerusalem. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski

Critical care patients connected to ECMO oxygenation machines: Coronavirus Intensive Care Unit staff at Hadassah:
Left to right: Dr. Ron Edri, Nurse Abed Shalabi, Nurse Or Ezra & ECMO Technician Yuval Shtark.
Photo:Ariel Jerozolimski

Editors Notes:

This article by Ariel Jerozolimski, first appeared in the Times of Israel on 22 October 2021.

Jerozolimski was born in Uruguay in 1965 and has lived in Israel since 1984, he has worked as a freelance photographer since 1990 for Israeli and international media including AFP, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, Stern Magazine, El Pais, and Xinhua. In 1999 Jerozolimski joined the leading Israeli business daily, Globes, as a staff photographer till 2009. He was the chief photographer for The Jerusalem Post between 1999 and 2010.

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