IDF treats first 100 patients after opening Nepal field hospital

Col. Dr. Ofer Merin, the medical manager of the IDF field hospital facility in Nepal, says in a conference call with reporters that the hospital has treated 100 patients since opening its doors Wednesday.

He says the hospital, equipped with an operating room and emergency room, among other facilities, is treating four types of patients: those that have only recently been rescued from the rubble and airlifted to safety; those that were transferred from the adjacent Nepali army hospital, mostly from the overflowing Intensive Care Unit; trekkers, some of whom have frostbite; and city dwellers who were lightly injured by the earthquake but have nowhere else to turn.

He praises the local medical teams, saying they are providing a very high level of care. The IDF team is 250-people strong and is fully self-sufficient.

— Mitch Ginsburg