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They came to Italy to reach out.

Returning to Israel is already becoming unforgettable

Sad silence in the corridors and the elderly with untreated background illnesses were greeted by a delegation of medical personnel from Sheba, who arrived at a hospital in the province of Piedmont to help the worn-out local staffs.

The difficulty of working together in the early days became an exciting collaboration.

"Surprising how much they trust us"

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• Corona virus

• Italy

• Sheba Hospital

Meirav Cohen

Friday, 18 December 2020, 22:44

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In video: Italy considers tightening restrictions on Christmas (Photo: Reuters)

The corona virus has hit Italy the hardest.

As of December 14, about 1.8 million residents were reported in the boot country who had contracted the virus and over 65,000 deaths.

The country has a population of over 60 million and the province of Piedmont at its northern end, suffers from a high morbidity rate - over 125,000 infected and more than 7,100 dead so far.

Much to a district with a population of 4.3 million.

In the shadow of the rising sickness in the country, a delegation of 21 medical personnel, including six doctors, a team of nurses and a logistics team, arrived from Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer.

They arrived in Piedmont on December 2 to help the Michele Pietro Ferrero Hospital in the city of Verduno, which is struggling to cope with the load of patients coming from Corona at its gates.

"It is difficult to be here and know that there is a third wave in the country, but it is very important to help a country that needs it more," says Amit Shaham, a brother in the emergency department at Sheba, who said the delegation strengthened the Italian hospital staff.

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Amit Shaham at Michela Pietro Ferrero Hospital (Photo: Sheba spokeswoman)

Following the collapse of the Italian staff under load, the delegation, led by Prof. Elhanan Bar-On, arrived two weeks ago, and holds joint meetings with the local staff of the hospitals, to closely examine the condition of the patients.

"This hospital opened in July this year and has all the most innovative technologies. Because of the load of corona disease, the entire hospital is defined as Corona Hospital," says Shaham.

Shaham describes that the main difference between the hospitals in the country and Italy is the absolute silence that prevails in the corridors.

"There are no families here who want to know what's going on with their loved ones," he says.

"In Israel there is a special directive that in case of death, the family can say goodbye to the relatives in the Corona ward and there are even supervised family visits. Here it does not exist and we see that the patients also need the emotional support that the family usually gives."

At the head of the delegation.

Prof. Bar-On (Photo: Sheba Hospital spokeswoman)

"Our approach is still not as serious as theirs"

Walla Agbaria, Sheba General Intensive Care Nurse, said the delegation began work as soon as she arrived in Italy.

"They are at the end of their second wave. There are concerns when you are away from family and friends, but doing what needs to be done. We had a window of opportunity between the second wave and the third wave, when there was a decline in morbidity in the country and we could reach out. "But the situation was difficult and we could not leave."

Agarbia describes the difficulties that existed in the joint work: "There is a difficulty regarding the language, the medical staff here hardly speak English, but we still managed to establish a social connection outside of working hours."

Another difference is the ratio of the general population to the corona.

"Citizens take Corona seriously, because many here have lost a lot of valuables to them, and with us less, so our approach is still not as serious as theirs," she says. "But we, like them, each eat alone at a different table."

"In Italy there is currently no closure, but everything closes at 18:00 in the evening," Agarbia describes.

"We do not get to walk around the city, we go from home straight to the hospital and back. We have a special infection nurse who checks what we are allowed and what we are not allowed to do. We brought all the protective equipment from the country to be safe."

"We brought all the protective equipment from the country to be safe."

Walla Agbaria (Photo: Shebaa spokeswoman)

Dr. Eviatar Chovra, an intensive care physician and father of five daughters, works hand in hand with the intensive care teams in Italy.

Coincidentally, during his stay with the delegation, one of his patients in the country found an organ for transplant, which is expected to save his life: "We left the country when the third wave was only in its infancy and it was not clear where it was going," describes a booklet.

"When we were informed that Italy was in the midst of the second wave we had no doubt that we needed help. Right now they have passed the peak of the second wave, but I see our help in two ways - backing up the worn out teams to give them the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with their families. "In the many difficult patients. Their hospitals and intensive care units are still full."

"The morbidity here is quite similar to that in Israel, most of them older people with background diseases, and the treatment methods are the same," states a booklet.

"Hospitals collapsed in the second wave and could not provide a solution for everyone, seniors over 70 with background illnesses were simply not treated. It was difficult because in the country it does not happen, now it has faded a bit and we accept everyone. In Italy they understood their problem and recruited staff and converted wards "Intensive care. Part of this mobilization was to seek help from us as well."

"They are interested in how we treat and how things are done in Israel. We were able to change all kinds of methods or approaches in them. We taught them how to prevent pressure sores in a patient lying on his stomach, and pushed them for active treatment as in Israel.

What did you learn from them?

"I learned about reception and hospitality. After only three days they gave us independence in the field and responsibility for the patients. We actually manage the patients and they are in the background. If someone had come to Israel, it would have been much harder for me to release. They received us very nicely - surprisingly Me and how much they trust us. "

Medical and moral assistance.

Members of the delegation at the hospital in the province of Piedmont (Photo: Sheba spokeswoman)

The arrival of the Israeli delegation of doctors was encouraged by the Israeli Embassy in Italy.

"This province was hit the hardest in the first wave and we were afraid it would reach the center and the south, so we wanted to stop the disease there," explains Israeli Ambassador to Italy Dror Eder, why the Piedmont province received the Israeli aid. The second wave is more violent than the first wave and has spread throughout the country. "

"Because of the third wave in the country, we brought a delegation with few people and for a short time, but I say thank you for what there is," Ambassador Eder adds. "The delegation is the result of joint work between the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Health ".

"The tourism industry, which also employs many Jews, has received a fatal blow."

Israeli Ambassador to Italy Dror Eder with members of the delegation (Photo: Shebaa spokeswoman)

Eder says that the Jewish community in Italy has been harmed, both in terms of health and employment, but not unlike everyone else.

"The embassy is particularly interested in the small communities in the country, because they are the ones that are most affected," he says.

"The tourism industry, which also employs many Jews, is one of the largest employment centers in Italy and it has obviously received a fatal blow - there is no livelihood and there is widespread unemployment. At the same time, at first, many tourists brought the virus into Italy."

"The medical staff here barely speak English, but we were able to establish a social connection outside of working hours" (Photo: Sheba spokeswoman)

Sheba Hospital has signed on to continue its collaboration with the Italian Hospital.

While Israel is preparing for the vaccination campaign, Italy is not currently vaccinating its citizens.

Ambassador Eder said that Italy had signed with the pharmaceutical company Astra Zenica, which was forced to repeat the third stage of its experiment, after errors in the study were found.

A few months ago, Astra Zenika was considered the leading company in the race, with which Israel had no agreement.

The Italian foreign minister promised Prime Minister Netanyahu to set aside vaccine doses so that Israel would not be in short supply.

Now, Israel has received many doses of Pfizer vaccines, and Italy hopes that Israel will help it back and give it vaccine doses.

After nearly two weeks in the boot country, Sheba's doctors return to Israel, under the strong impression of the trip.

The hand they extended helped in one place and for a short time, but those days in Piedmont will remain with them and with the Italians they cared for and worked alongside them for many more days.

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