“The stories are heartbreaking. Today, we treated a 34-year-old woman rescued from the rubble. For days, she was trapped in a room that collapsed, and she kept hearing her brother screaming all the time from an adjacent room. Until his voice fell silent. They were unable to rescue him.”
This was how Avital Dotan, a nurse in the Recovery and Intensive Care Unit at Hadassah, reported on a particular day during her shift as a member of the Israel Defense Forces medical mission to Turkey, where she helped establish and operate a field hospital. The delegation recently returned to Israel after nearly a week on the ground there.
She continued, “In recent days we shared the work entirely with the local Turkish team. The coping is physical and emotional. Every day provides us with very complex and exciting events and cases. We are now on our way to the field to shower for the first time since we left home, and on the way, we see incredible sights, surrealistic sights. Our thoughts do not let go. How do you choose in which building to dig?”
“There was just another earthquake. Everyone cleared out of the hospital. Luckily, it wasn't a high-intensity quake; everything was fine, but we really felt it. It was scary.”
After finally freshening up with a shower, some physical exercise and a hot meal, she reflected, “It's incredible how you don't take anything for granted. You really appreciate all the little things.”
Before leaving, the Israeli team worked closely with their Turkish counterparts to ensure there is proper overlap and that treatment continues after their departure.