Less than three days after a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, leaving thousands dead and thousands more injured or missing, an Israeli Defense Team (IDF) humanitarian aid mission was on the ground providing much needed emergency services.
Among those in the 260-member delegation are three Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) physicians. Dr. Yuval Meroz, Senior Anesthesiologist in the Dept. of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, and Dr. Uri Ilan, Attending Physician in the Dept. of Pediatrics, were aboard the first flights destined for Nepal. Orthopedic Resident Dr. Shree Krishna Kashichawa, a Nepalese native from the Kathmandu Valley, joined the two HMO physicians in the region shortly later. Kashichawa’s parents and five married siblings live in the area most affected by the earthquake and he was eager to return to his country to be part of the emergency mission.
"I landed in Nepal on Monday night. I worked with the team in building the field hospital," Kashichawa said. "I want to thank Hadassah hospitals, medical and IDF team and the Israeli government ... for making this happen."
Israel has one of the top disaster relief teams in the world and is consistently among the first to offer substantial aid to countries in distress from natural and other disasters. Hadassah is proud of Israel and the physicians at HMO for helping those most in need of help.
“We’re on a mission to achieve three things,” said Colonel Yoram Larado, head of the IDF humanitarian delegation to Nepal. “Deploy major search and rescue operations. Admit patients to our field hospitals within 12 hours of landing. Help the Nepalese people.”