Together We Stand

[ 81 ] and community development, with emphasis on empower- ment through community capacity-building. Establishing a trauma unit in Haiti Emergency medical services are a key component in solid- ifying community resilience through health and medical security. This process involves rapid assessment, timely provision of appropriate interventions, and prompt trans- portation to the nearest health facility by the best possible means to enhance survival, control morbidity and prevent disability. The goal of an effective emergency medical system should be, therefore, to make emergency care avail- able to all who need it. However, despite the existence of the new technologies required to address emergency medical situations, access to such facilities is not available in many parts of the developing world. The effort to increase access to emergency care in devel- oping countries has received global attention. Emergency medicine and disaster preparedness are disciplines which have been given priority on the agendas of the major- ity of both developed and developing countries. Joining the international community’s efforts of implementing the 2030 Development Agenda and based on the Israeli experience gained in these fields, MASHAV designs and implements professional activities characterized by a long- term approach focusing on community capacity-building, particularly in rural regions. The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 severely damaged the country’s medical infrastructures, denying basic medical care to the population. From the moment the news of the tragedy broke, the State of Israel resolved to assist Haiti in whatever way it could. The first response included the immediate dispatch of an emergency Israeli delegation comprised of medical and search-and-rescue personnel to set up a field hospital in Port-au-Prince. The field hospital, set up in a soccer field near the airport, included a medical staff of 40 doctors, 25 nurses, paramedics, a pharmacy, a children’s ward, a radiology department, an intensive care unit, an emergency room, two operating rooms, a surgical department, an internal department and a maternity ward. For two weeks, the hospital treated approximately 500 patients each day. When international efforts moved from the phase of rescue to recovery, MASHAV, in consultation with the Government of Haiti, began to develop projects specific to the needs of the people of Haiti. As part of this effort, and in accordance with the Haitian authorities’ rehabili- tation plan, a special project for the establishment of a new trauma unit in the city of Cap-Haitiën commenced, jointly designed and organized by the Israeli Government, Gaining hands-on experience during a disaster management course offered in Ghana by Israeli experts Image: Courtesy of MASHAV T ogether W e S tand