Caring for the Children of our Neighbours: A Nurses Perspective

Abstract

The hospital in which I have worked in the Galilee for over twenty years is close to the borders of Lebanon and Syria with Israel. I am an Israeli Emergency Room nurse in my sixties. I am also the Trauma Co-ordinator of the hospital. Galilee is a spectacularly beautiful and tranquil part of Israel. Arabs and Jews have lived together here for generations. I have raised my children and grandchildren here. Together we have lived through years of peace and apprehension, and also years of bitter conflict with our neighbor’s. As a father and grandfather I have worried for my family, and, as a nurse, I have always had to make sure that my department is ready to respond immediately to medical emergencies in conflict and mass casualty scenarios.