Dr Schneider
Photo: Amir Cohen
Hospital struggles to cope with trauma sufferers
Dr Schneider of Barzilai Hospital speaks of her experience in treating unprecedented number of trauma sufferers after yesterday's Qassam attacks against Sderot
One of the victims of yesterday's rocket attacks on Sderot was a woman who celebrated her daughter's birthday in her garden.
"When the Color Redalert siren was sounded she rushed the kids home but she realized that one was missing. She went out and found the kid lying on the ground terrified. Then the boom was heard. She brought the child in and she also suffered from shock," said Dr Rosa Schneider, a trauma specialist at the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
"We had 14 victims who suffered from shock and I heard hair-raising stories," she said. "I can't remember an event with so many victims."
Dr Schneider particularly remembers two trauma victims: "There was a soldier, who looked 19, who was unable to speak. He was emotionally stressed at the sight of a woman who was injured by a rocket."
Another victim was a 40-year-old who cried.
"It is a feeling of hopelessness. You do nothing bad and suddenly your life is destroyed," Schneider said.
Another victim was a pregnant woman who fell as she ran to seek shelter and injured her stomach. She feared for her fetus' safety.
"At times of distress people don't feel pain," Dr Schneider said, adding that medical staff always checks trauma victims for physical injuries.
Victims are then attended to by psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers. Some victims are given tranquilizers.
"Yesterday there were plenty of people who refused to return home after treatment. They said they feared returning to Sderot because it was like Russian roulette," Schneider said. "People who see this once are haunted by it all the time."
"These people live in hell," she continued, "…If it would have been close to Tel Aviv people would have gone out to the streets."
