At the request of Panamanian health professionals, the Hadassah Medical Center is bringing its trauma expertise to Panama through a two-day symposium, sponsored by Hadassah Panama in conjunction with Hospital Santo Tomás.
Panama is in the process of establishing a 911 emergency telephone line and ambulance service and opening its first Trauma Unit in the largest public hospital, Hospital Santo Tomás. The objective of the symposium, slated for October 16-17, is for Hadassah to contribute to the improvement of the medical attention patients receive in emergency situations due to trauma—whether individual or mass casualty. The target audience is doctors of emergency medicine and intensive care, general surgeons and surgical specialists, as well as medical residents and last-year medical students.
The program will feature Dr. Gideon Almogy of Hadassah’s Trauma Unit at Ein Kerem, Dr. Ruth Stalnikowicz, head of Emergency Medicine at Hadassah Hospital-Mount Scopus, and Pnina Sharon, Head Nurse of the Judy and Sidney Swartz Center for Emergency Medicine, as well as physicians and administrators from Santo Tomás Hospital and other Panamanian hospitals. The program will include such topics as “Principles of Mass Casualty Management,” “Emergency Room Strategies for Trauma Victims,” and “Organization and Administration of a Trauma Unit.” Participants will have the opportunity to practice trauma strategies through drills that simulate various emergency situations.
The Hadassah Panama Committee notes that not only will the symposium enhance emergency medical care in Panama, but it will also create good will for Hadassah and aid in their fundraising efforts for the Hadassah Medical Center.
