Dr. Tal Bergman hasn’t slept much since the tragedy yesterday that unfolded on the border of Gaza. With the need to care for hundreds of casualties from the Hamas terror attack, the hospital staff at the Barzilai Medical Center has been working around the clock.
Bergman is the Deputy Director of the hospital. She spoke to the ‘Post’ from a room inside the hospital, near several empty beds divided by curtains.
Yesterday she was awakened at her home by a siren. She thought she was in a dream initially. “I woke up,” she recalls. She lives in Rishon LeTzion. “What is happening here,” she wondered.
As a senior official at a hospital, she would usually be aware if there was a heightened state of alert or a war breaking out. However, the surprise attack by Hamas at six in the morning caught the country by surprise.
“I tried calling people, no one knew anything…that was the story of all of us, all the beautiful people that work at the hospital.” She thought it would be the usual missile threat from Gaza.
“I started driving here [to the hospital],” she recalls. It was the most dangerous drive in her life she says, because of all the sirens and rockets. She had to stop the car and get out and lie down for protection seven times.
Just to get to the hospital from the parking lot she had to frequently take cover.
“Eventually I came here and no one knew what was happening.” There were rumors that terrorists were entering the area around Gaza. “Bits by bits we realized something bad was happening. It was very chaotic. We didn’t have a lot of information. We started to do what we know how to do best.”
Barzilai is in Ashkelon just north of Gaza and has dealt with casualties from attacks frequently in the past. Many injured people began to arrive. They had to transfer casualties to secure rooms because the hospital also is reinforced against missile threats.
Over 300 injured
More than 300 injured arrived.
The hospital had to triage the wounded, making sure that those waiting could be transferred to other hospitals. Around 75 were transferred in the first day and a half.
The hospital treated many complex wounds, from gunshot wounds to brain injuries and multiple organ failure.
Asked if the hospital is prepared, she says that as a hospital there is no choice but to provide the service the population needs. “We have a very good health system and we work with other hospitals. Everyone is willing to help. We are ready.”
Like other hospitals, they have faced challenges with having enough staff. The conflict was not expected. “People were traveling and on vacation.” The staff are committed to their work she says. The hospital is prepared for more casualties.
The hospital took a hit from a missile in the early hours of October 8. Bergman showed us to the hallway that was struck. A dozen workers had already come to clean up the debris, repaint the outside wall and make everything anew. It is a sign of how the hospital has worked to provide a feeling of normalcy and safety amid the chaos.
At the entrance to the intake area for the emergency room area there is a large area for ambulances to pull up. Volunteers have been bringing food.
Chabad and communities have sent meals in large trays, including pasta and potatoes. People were arriving, including friends of patients, soldiers, ambulance drivers and staff, to eat the food.
Here the unity of Israel was on display as people came together in the shadow of war. “It’s a very tragic situation, there is a little spot of light. I went out yesterday and there was a feast outside, and someone had donated the feast to the hospital.”