Sunday, March 15, 7:30, Sandler Family Campus
Responsible for setting up the field hospitals in instances of natural disaster, Lt. Col. Dr. Ofer Merin, is also part of the Cardio Thoracic Surgery Department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, as well as the head of the emergency hospital preparedness for mass causality team and the head of its trauma unit. Speaking in Tidewater as the final speaker in the Community Relations Council’s 2014– 2015 Israel Today series, Merin will share details of his experiences representing Israel around the world in the field.
Merin is a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF and has served since 1983 with the reserve forces in a variety of positions including his current position as Chief, IDF Field Hospital.
His reserve unit was part of the Israeli delegation that gave aid to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, arriving first on the scene. He served as the chief surgeon of the hospital and was responsible for the triage and treatment of thousands of victims.
In the December 2010 edition of The Jewish Journal, the article, “The Top 10 Jews of The Year—2010,” lists Merin as #3 for compassion in action, and honored him for establishing the most effective field hospital in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
In May 2010, Merin received the Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles on behalf of the IDF.
Merin was also first on the scene in Japan after the tsunami that followed the massive earthquake on March 11, 2011, and in the Philippines after the Typhoon in 2013, on the Syria-Israel border in the Fall of 2013, and most recently on the border with Gaza, although citizens from Gaza were prohibited to use the hospital by Hamas.
The Community Relations Council in conjunction with area synagogues, Jewish agencies and organizations, as well as community businesses and members present the annual Israel Today series. For more information on the series, the partners, or to RSVP by March 12 for this free and open to the community event, visit www.JewishVa.org/CRCIsraelToday or call 965‑6107.