Thursday, August 22, 2013

Boston Marathon Bombings



Perspectives...by Evelyn Marshak

Did you know that two of the doctors treating the Boston Marathon Bombing patients at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center were Israeli?  Two of the seven doctors have had abundant experience treating victims of terror because these medical personnel are Israelis. 

Doctors and medical staff at Boston hospitals found themselves facing the horrific aftermath of the bombings and realized that they were rather well prepared  in part by lessons shared by Israeli Medical personnel.  Terror medicine is something doctors have learned a lot about over the years.  The war in Afghanistan, Iraq and the earthquake in Haiti gave many doctors in United States, on-the-job-training in treating bombing and other kinds of terror patients. 

Dr. Avi Rivkind heads the surgery and trauma unit at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem Haddah Hospital and has treated more than half of Israel's bombing victims.  With his personal experience he  helped rewrite the book on treating victims of bombing. 

Rivkin is revered for refusing to give up on the most hopeless trauma  patients such as a soldier that was shot through the heart and pronounced dead.  Somehow, Rivkin revived him!

Dr. Kevin Tabb, President and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center received his medical degree from Jerusalem's Hebrew University.  Tabb said, “Unfortunately, I have had a lot of experience with these types of injuries, after years of treating people injured in terror attacks.”

The director of the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is Dr. David Talmor, also an Israeli physician.

Dr. Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency medicine at Massachusetts  General Hospital told reporters that his staff was better prepared because a few  years ago, some Israeli doctors travelled to Boston to help upgrade Massachusetts General's disaster response plan.  Conn noted that, “We in the United States have had little experience in urban explosions.  The Israelis, unfortunately had the experience; they transferred it to us... and this worked well for us.”

I think I speak for many Americans who waited to do something but too far away from Boston to rush into the city on that horrific day.  There was little  one could do in a direct way, but as Jews, we can take great pride in the Jewish doctors' medical skills in both Israel and in Boston; they have done something indirectly to ease the pain of the injured.

Words of Wisdom
It is a man’s own mind…not the enemy or foe
that leads him to evil ways.
(Buddha)

Crafted by Merle Baird-Kerr...June 29, 2013
Comments are welcome...scroll down...may sign in as “anonymous”
or e-mail...inezkate@gmail.com

 ***  Today, August 21, the following “update” 
                                                       was published in our local newspaper:

Bombing suspect was shot in the face

Newly released court documents describe the extent of injuries to the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, including multiple gunshot wounds to his face and a skull fracture.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s injuries were described by Dr. Stephen Ray Odom during a legal proceeding at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center three days after Tsarnaev was captured in a boat in a back yard  in the Boston suburb of Watertown.  A transcript of the testimony was unsealed  Monday. 

Odom, a trauma surgeon who treated Tsarnaev, said the most severe injury was from a bullet that appeared to enter through the left inside of his mouth and exit the lower section of his face on the left side.  He described it as a “high-powered injury” that resulted in a skull-base fracture, injuries to his middle ear, the skull base , the pharynx and mouth.  Odom said Tsarnaev also had wounds to his lower extremities and bone injuries to his left hand.

Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to numerous charges  in the April 15th bombing ~ including using a weapon of mass destruction ~ and faces a potential death sentence if convicted.  The twin bombings near the finish line of the marathon killed 3 people and injured more than 260.

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