Central Command medical teams rescue and treat civilians injured in car collisions in Judea and Samaria, in cooperation the Red Crescent and others
Date: 08/08/2012, 11:36 AM
Author: Florit Shoihet
Over the years, the medical efforts in the Judea and Samaria region were focused primarily on treating soldiers and terror attack victims. Though the relative calm currently characterizing the region enables the Central Command to attend to more car collisions and stress the importance of safe driving. Last week, the Command held a conference dealing with the war against traffic accidents, featuring a training exercise where the soldiers rescued victims trapped in a vehicle. Medical representatives from the various commands and from commando units participated in the conference.
“Almost every day we treat collisions, mostly of civilians,” said a source from the Central Command. IDF soldiers rescue and treat both Palestinians and Israelis injured in car accidents in Judea and Samaria and in the Jordan River Valley. The soldiers cooperate with local civilian rescue teams including the Red Crescent. The scarce number of civilian medical teams and hospitals in the region highlights the importance IDF medical forces, which are sometimes the only ones able to arrive at a collision site.
“The main challenge is treating the victims while rescuing them from the vehicle, which is why high-level cooperation is necessary,” said Judea and Samaria Division Medical Officer, Lt. Col. Noam Fink.
“Motor-vehicle collisions make up a significant part of our medical occupation in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan River Valley. We decided to hold a training exercise and practice rescuing and evacuating wounded civilians trapped in a vehicle,” explained a Central Command medical officer. The drill focused on strengthening the cooperation between the various organizations involved in the evacuation as well as on the speed and quality of the medical care provided.