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Eyewitness: Evacuating Israeli Terror Victims from Bulgaria

(Jerusalem Post) Dr. Gabi Barbash - After the bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria, the medical response of the local hospital to a complex situation it had never before encountered was outstanding. The staff correctly evaluated the clinical situation of each casualty, and orchestrated the immediate evacuation of the three most severely injured to hospitals in the capital city of Sofia, thus almost certainly saving their lives. In Israel, the rapid recruitment of a group of paramedics and senior trauma and intensive care physicians enabled the dispatch of a medical delegation to Bulgaria five hours after the bomb exploded. At the entrance to the Burgas Airport terminal, we were met by a group of 80 Israelis who choose to cancel their vacation and fly back to Israel. Our deplaning was greeted by their heartwarming applause. The language barrier turned out to be more difficult than we had expected. Almost no one spoke English. The situation was saved by a young woman who was fluent in English: She met us at the hospital entrance and offered her help. Her name was Kalina Krumova, 27, the youngest member of the Bulgarian parliament. She was a native of Burgas and hurried there from Sofia to provide any assistance she could as soon as she had heard about the terrorist attack. As the convoy of ambulances from the hospital in Sofia drove to the airport, large groups of Bulgarian citizens lined the roads as if they came to salute the Israelis. It was later reported that many Bulgarians came to the hospital and offered to donate blood for the Israeli casualties. Bulgaria was one of the very few countries that resisted the deportation of Jews during World War II. At the airport, the wounded boarded two enormous Israel Air Force Hercules airplanes, surrounded by the Air Force's elite 699 Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit teams. The Bulgarians were surprised at the lengths to which the State of Israel will go to aid its citizens hit by terrorism. The planes were in the air with 34 wounded Israelis less than 24 hours from the moment they were injured, and in Israeli hands on their way home. Dr. Gabi Barbash, the CEO of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, headed the Israeli medical delegation to Burgas.
2012-07-27 00:00:00
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