IDF’s Home Front Command chief arrives in Philippines to oversee aid delegation
Army's field hospital is able to treat 500 people at a time, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Office.
By YAAKOV LAPPINIDF field hospital Philippines 370(photo credit: IDF Spokesman’s Office)
OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Eyal Eizenberg arrived in the Philippines on Monday evening, together with Chief Medical Officer Brig.-Gen. Itzik Kreis.The two visited the IDF field hospital set up in Bogo City that has treated 1,214 Filipinos, including 358 children, and performed 27 operations.“We’re not only a fighting army, but also one with a long history of saving lives around the world,” Kreis said during a ceremony on Tuesday. The Israeli ambassador and the mayor of Bogo City were also in attendance.Eizenberg later inaugurated a drinking water facility that the IDF set up for local residents, as well as a school that the typhoon badly damaged and Home Front Command soldiers repaired on Tuesday. The hospital treated 254 injured locals, including 61 children, and nine operations were conducted by army doctors.The IDF sent a 148-person delegation to the storm-stricken country in order to provide search, rescue and medical services in response to super typhoon Haiyan, that killed thousands of people and has left the island nation in a deep humanitarian crisis.The field hospital is able to treat 500 people at a time, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Office. It includes an X-ray room, a children’s ward, an ambulatory care department and birth facilities.IDF doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, mental health professionals, X ray technicians and lab workers are all on staff.Col. Ramtin Sabati, who commands the National Rescue Unit, heads the mission. Col. Dr. Dudu Dagan, deputy chief medical corps officer, commands the hospital.Last Friday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke with his Filipino counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin, saying that it was Israel’s “moral obligation” to help the Philippines in the wake of the natural disaster.“Our two nations share a trusting relationship, and in these moments we see it in action,” Ya’alon said to Gazmin.
The hospital was visited on Saturday morning by the Filipino head of the regional district, who thanked the members of the IDF delegation and toured the facility.
