Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, some 400 civilians have required treatment by doctors, psychologists, and social workers for panic attacks.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHAn injured person taken to Rambam Hospital.(photo credit: RAMBAM HOSPITAL SPOKESMAN)
As the ground war in Gaza brings hospitals an increasing number of wounded soldiers needing treatment, Health Ministry director-general Prof. Arnon Afek decided to bring casualties to hospitals in the center of the country, in addition to those in the South and southwest, such as Barzilai and Soroka Medical Centers.In addition to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer (the country’s largest hospital) and the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, it was decided on Sunday that Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medial Center, Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, and Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Tzrifin would also be put on high alert.Afek toured Soroka and praised the medical teams for their “professionalism and high level of motivation” to treat those wounded by rockets.The Health Ministry was not permitted to issue centralized figures on IDF wounded being treated in the hospitals, leaving this to the IDF Spokesman and the Prime Minister’s Office, but some of the hospitals did issue figures on Sunday. The Hadassah spokeswoman said six wounded soldiers reached the hospital on Sunday. Two were treated in the trauma center and hospitalized with light injuries. Then four more arrived, with one moderately injured undergoing an operation and being transferred to the orthopedics department.The medical center’s social workers are busy coordinating with the IDF and giving support to the soldiers’ families.To reduce the burden to hospitals, Magen David Adom has been transferring civilian victims of anxiety attacks resulting from rocket fire to community clinics that treat those suffering from emotional wounds, including post-traumatic stress. Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, some 400 civilians have required treatment by doctors, psychologists, and social workers for panic attacks.The professionals speak to them, examine them for any physical harm, and look for symptoms such as disquiet, dizziness, chest pains, irregular breathing, and shaky hands.MDA advised that people close to those with such symptoms should calm them down, give them something light to eat and not leave them alone until an ambulance arrives.
