The famous helipad at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa once again received casualties from the fighting in Lebanon overnight Tuesday. Ten IDF soldiers were wounded in a clash with three Hezbollah terrorists in the town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, three of them seriously. Some were evacuated to Rambam, while others were taken to additional hospitals in northern Israel.
The force killed two of the terrorists with the help of tank fire and air support, struck the building from which the terrorists had operated, and a short time later killed the third terrorist as he tried to flee.
Paratrooper Brigade forces operating in Bint Jbeil, southern Lebanon
(Video: IDF)
IDF soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon combat evacuated to Rambam Health Care Campus
(Video: Courtesy of Rambam Health Care Campus )
Over the past 24 hours, eight wounded were evacuated to Rambam, which since the start of Operation Roaring Lion has received 87 wounded soldiers, alongside hundreds of civilians hurt in Iranian and Hezbollah missile and rocket fire.
The soldiers hospitalized in serious condition will need, alongside continued complex surgeries, a lengthy rehabilitation. “There are almost daily two helicopter landings here arriving from the war zone in Lebanon," Dr. Avi Weisman, deputy director of the hospital, who also serves as head of medical operations and a senior anesthesiologist, said.
"We are working around the clock here with the various IDF bodies, all in order to ensure rapid and efficient intake. It really reminds me of the days of the First and Second Lebanon wars, with helicopters constantly evacuating wounded to us.”
Dr. Weisman, who found time to speak with us while hospital director Dr. Michal Mekel was busy in surgery, added: “A great many of the wounded here are suffering from limb injuries. The soldiers have excellent protective gear in the heavy fighting in Lebanon. They arrive with injuries to their limbs alongside other injuries, and we are trying to help find the best way to assist them as quickly as possible, of course with all our amazing medical teams here.”
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IDF soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon combat evacuated to Rambam Health Care Campus
(Photo: Gil Nechushtan)
The father of a paratrooper whose son was moderately wounded in one of the incidents in Lebanon said: “We are very pleased with the treatment. The staff here has been professional from the first moment my son was admitted. He called us as soon as he got off the helicopter from Lebanon, on a phone they attached to him, and told us he had been wounded and not to worry when we got to the hospital. We arrived quickly, and we hope for the best going forward.”
Gila Heymes, who heads the hospital’s nursing division and trauma center, said: “There are many soldiers here from the different combat sectors, some of them arriving in very serious condition. It is a very great concern for everyone — complex surgeries, teams assigned to them from the moment they land. There is rapid assistance here from Unit 2 representatives together with the IDF in order to expedite treatment and help for the families staying close to the wounded.”
At this stage, the hospital has moved some of the wounded soldiers for treatment in various internal medicine wards, alongside the maternity ward, which has also been moved upstairs. Many patients are still hospitalized in the underground wards, including a Haifa resident who was seriously wounded last week by the Iranian missile strike that killed four members of one family. In all, the hospital has received 320 wounded civilians since the start of the war.