On Sunday, September 18, a group of more than 20 physicians and hospital administrators from two Partnerships: Central Area Consortium-Western Galilee and NNJ-Nahairya arrived in Israel's Western Galilee for the fifth annual Emergency Response Group (ERG).
The ERG is a one-week study and training program at the Western Galilee Hospital, the only border hospital in Israel, wherein physicians and health care workers from the United States train side-by-side with Israeli doctors for mass casualty events and other non-conventional emergency situations. Facilitated through the Partnership with Israel, an initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the United Jewish Communities (UJC), the ERG is yet another way these agencies help to promote people-to-people relationships between Jewish communities.
Participants in this year's ERG represented five delegations from the 14 Central Area Consortium communities including Canton and Dayton, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; and Des Moines, Iowa. From Dayton were Dr. Shulamit Adler, Neurophysiologist and Dr. David Novick, Gastroenterologist. From Canton were Dr. Dennis Glazer, Orthopedic Surgeon; and his wife Marianne Glazer, Orthopedic Nurse. Omaha was represented by Dr. Alan Kricsfeld, Internist. From Dallas were Dr. Edward Goodman, Infectious Diseases, Dr. Mark Merrill, President Presbyteman Hospital of Dallas, Dr. Sarita Milchgrub, Pathologist, Dr. Robert Milstein Ob-Gyn, Dr. Richard Rome, Radiology, Dr. A.J. Rosmarin, Administrator and Dr. Donald Schwarz, Radiology. Des Moines was represented by Dr. Stephen Wolf, Pediatric Surgery.
For years, Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, has been conducting practice drills with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to hone techniques for receiving and treating patients in a mass casualty event. In 2002, the first ERG was held to build a reserve of American medical professionals to staff the hospital should the Israeli staff be depleted due to call-ups for reserve duty. Since doctors undergo a period of adjustment - including time to acquaint themselves with the medical staff and to learn specific hospital practices - this course has provided a perfect framework and has continued to grow each year. As part of participating in the ERG, volunteers agreed to return to Israel within 72-hours should their services be needed.
Since its inception, the ERG has become a much broader experience enabling physicians and hospital administrators from abroad to familiarize themselves with WGH's emergency preparedness procedures and often times to share their new-found knowledge with their home communities. During the ERG course, each participant was paired with an Israeli colleague in his/her specialty who is his/her professional host for the week. The 40-hour course included: lectures, hands-on workshops, scripted mini mass-casualty drills with actor-patients, tour, on-site instruction with IDF border medical units and ten hours in specialty units/departments. Participants may present grand rounds, perform demonstration surgeries, or give specialty workshops.
In addition to their training at the hospital, the ERG participants were able to tour and experience the Partnership Region. Since the goal of the Partnership with Israel is to develop people-to-people connections, home hospitality dinners were arranged for the doctors to get a taste of true Israeli life. There was also a visit to the Shukran (open house) in the city of Old Akko and an officer-led tour of an IDF base located along the Lebanese border.
On their final night in Israel, the physicians and health workers were honored with a thank you dinner and certificate presentation at Yehiyam Castle, a crusader castle. Among the guests were Israelis involved in other Partnership programs, staff from WGH and a community mission from San Antonio that was also visiting the area.
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