The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in Safed is Expanding
Date: 2020-09-10 Hour: 14:34
The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University is in the midst of significant renewal and development. The land rights where an old Bezeq telephone company building was situated, a block from the current Azrieli campus in Safed, were purchased by Bar-Ilan University as part of the Faculty's planned expansion. An Education Facility, to be constructed on the ruins of the recently-demolished building, will include 5,600 square meters of classrooms, laboratories, a state-of-the-art library, a gym, and an auditorium. The building will be constructed thanks to the University's generous partners: The Azrieli Foundation, The Edmund de Rothschild Foundation, and the Ministry for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee.
Under the plan the Faculty is set to expand even further. New buildings, including advanced research labs, research institutes, classrooms, and student and faculty service structures, will be constructed alongside existing ones. Over the next decade, Bar-Ilan University will continue to build and develop the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in Safed as part of its vision to influence Israeli society.
Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Arie Zaban: "It's been eight years since the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine and its contribution has already been proven. The Faculty was established to meet the need to train skilled doctors and to curb the phenomenon of "brain drain" by helping students, teachers and researchers return to Israel from the world's most prestigious institutions, while expanding employment opportunities for residents of the north and developing the Galilee and the city of Safed. The Faculty contributes to the healthcare system in the Galilee in a variety of aspects, including the addition of new research institutes in hospitals and the strengthening of the professional, research and academic infrastructure. This is an exciting opportunity to once again thank the Azrieli Foundation and the Rothschild Foundation, who share this vision and its realization.
Safed Mayor Shuki Ohana welcomed the expansion of the Faculty. "The Faculty of Medicine is a prominent and central presence in the city of Safed, a city that promotes health. We are working to make Safed a leading academic city with a faculty of medicine, an academic college and, hopefully, a university that we aim to establish in our city, alongside the creation of a residential neighborhood for doctors."
Eli Buch, Director of Philanthropy at the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation: "The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation is proud to contribute to the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine in Safed and the training of the next generation in medicine. The Foundation, which has been committed to the Zionist vision for approximately140 years, sees research and higher education as a key empowering tool for the formation of an Israeli society based on the values of excellence, diversity, cooperation and inclusion. This is another tier that will make it possible to achieve health resilience in Israel, especially in light of the challenges of recent times."
Search. Rescue. Build! This week, the Bezeq building which will become the Azrieli Faculty's Education Facility, was carefully demolished by contractors hired by Bar-Ilan University. But before the 1,200 square meter building sitting on a 2,000 square meter lot was wrecked, human “dummies” with pre-defined injuries and medical histories were carefully placed throughout the site, in anticipation of a search and rescue (SAR) drill. On the day of the drill, the Israeli National Search and Rescue Unit of the IDF Home Front Command, accompanied by BIU and Municipality of Safed representatives, Magen David Adom, the Israeli Police, the IDF Canine Unit, ZAKA (a rescue and recovery volunteer organization), and some 100 reservists (who were deliberately only alerted of the drill that morning!), commenced with a search and rescue exercise that would continue for the next three days. Drills of this nature are necessary and commonplace for the unit, so the opportunity was warmly welcomed. The Faculty extended its hospitality by opening its doors to the IDF, allowing it to use the existing campus as its base.
A lot was learned at the drill, which was designed to imitate a rocket attack or earthquake with massive ensuing destruction on an old age home. The reservists (from all professions and walks of life) were granted a perfect opportunity to practice “in real time” Disaster Medicine, a new branch of emergency medicine which focuses on the unique issues involved in SAR. All ages can be affected, and injuries on all major organs can ensue. Imagine these scenarios: how does one administer an IV in the dark, under dusty conditions, to a trapped victim? How does one quickly and safely amputate a limb under these conditions, if there is no other way to save someone trapped in a building about to collapse? What happens to the human body when a heavy object is lifted after days of being trapped (it seems potassium can build up in the cells and suddenly cause irreparable fatal arrhythmia once blood flow is resumed, even on the way to safety, termed Crush Syndrome).
It would appear that this is only the beginning of an exciting and budding relationship between the IDF Home Front Command and the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine. One of the suggestions following the successful drill was to together design and develop an international course in Disaster Medicine.