True tales from the trauma unit

Posted

Terrorists don’t discriminate and Shayna Gold learned that the hard way. 18-year-old Shayna was enjoying her gap year in Jerusalem until she found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. A terrorist unleashed a barrage of bullets and Shayna was shot in the chest. 

As the ambulance raced to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Shayna’s heart stopped. A paramedic was still performing CPR in the ambulance when a surgeon met them and whisked her to the ER for an open-heart procedure that plugged a hole in Shayna’s heart and stopped the bleeding before he wheeled her into the operating room. 

Baruch Hashem, today, Shayna is married with children and stays in touch with her saviors at Shaare Zedek. 

Dr. Todd Zalut told that story in New York City last month in his keynote address to more than 250 women, including a contingent from Riverdale at the annual Women’s Health Day sponsored by the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Dr. Zalut is Director of the Weinstock Department of Emergency Medicine on the Fanya Gottesman Heller Floor. More than seventy percent of the patients injured in the current wave of terror attacks have been treated there. The department was recently rated the number one ER in the State of Israel by The Marker, Israel’s leading business newspaper.

The event at the New York Academy of Medicine on March 16 raised funds for the Shock and Trauma Unit where the most seriously injured patients are seen. The internationally respected unit is led by Dr. Ofer Merin, also the Deputy Director-General of Shaare Zedek.

“I derive great pleasure from helping to participate in a lucrative event such as Health Day to promote funds for the hospital in Israel,” explained Randi Luxenberg, Co-Chair of Women’s Health Day, and Chair of the Event Committee and Vendors. “With the unfortunate terror situation in Israel and, sadly, more individuals needing ER/hospital care, our support is needed this year more than ever.” 

Medical professionals who presented breakout sessions included therapist Bat Sheva Marcus, PhD, the founder and Clinical Director of Maze Women’s Sexual Health; Jill Blakeway, MS, LAC, Founder and Clinical Director of the Yinova Center, discussing acupuncture and stress relief; Dr. Eric R. Mandel, Director of Mandel Vision, discussing laser vision correction; and Dr. Christina M. Coyle, Director of the Tropical Medicine Clinic at Jacobi Medical Center.

In addition to gaining valuable health information, enjoying a lavish buffet lunch catered by Main Event-Mauzone, and having an opportunity to browse an exclusive boutique with 14 vendors, attendees at the sold-out event felt gratified knowing their support was making a difference in saving lives at Israel’s fastest-growing medical center. Shaare Zedek admissions have more than doubled in the last 15 years. The 1000 bed hospital averages more than twice as many patients annually as the other two Jerusalem hospitals combined. Last year, 22,400 babies were delivered at Shaare Zedek and its Bikur Cholim City Center campus.

American Tova Saks had a baby at Shaare Zedek two-and-a-half year ago. “It was a phenomenal experience,” she recalled. “I didn’t feel like just another one of tens of thousands of people who have babies there. And you don’t feel that way in the hospitals here.”

Dr. Zalut also revealed at Women’s Health Day that Shaare Zedek plans to construct, equip and staff a Neurological Institute at a projected cost of $15 million. In cases of stroke, seconds count. In the quickly expanding Greater Jerusalem area, speeding up access to treatments to clear blocked blood vessels in the brain will be the crucial difference for many patients who will be able to return to their normal activities instead of suffering a major disability. The Institute will comprise a Stroke Diagnosis and Treatment Unit, an Interventional Neuroradiology Service, and a Department of Neurosurgery. 

“Seeing the growth of the Hospital is a driving force for me,” explained Debbie Kestenbaum, President of Shaare Zedek Women’s Division. “So far Health Day has raised $140,000 and we hope to keep growing and get new faces involved.”

Even kids are getting the message. Gideon Askowitz of White Plains, a seventh grader at Riverdale’s SAR Academy, joined his mother at the event to sell tickets for his Bar Mitzvah Chesed Raffle. Gideon is very close to reaching his goal of raising $18,000 for fun and educational items for the Hospital’s new Nagel Family Pediatric In-patient Pavilion. To help, go to www.acsz.org/gideon.

Gail Propp, a Health Day Co-Chair from the Upper East Side who attended with her two sisters, expressed what so many of the women at the event felt.  “Shaare Zedek is Israel’s medical super weapon.  The work they’re doing is incredible.”

The sad reality is that the kindness inside the Hospital starkly contrasts with the threat of evil lurking outside. But rest assured, if G-d forbid it is needed, Shaare Zedek is prepared. 

Chana Mayefsky is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

Shayna Gold, Israel, Todd Zalut, Women’s Health Day, SAR Academy, Chana Mayefsky

Comments