Sheba’s Humanitarian & Disaster Response Center
“A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS”
About
the HDRC
The Sheba Humanitarian & Disaster Response Center (HDRC) was established in 2017 by highly experienced specialists to provide medical professionals with the tools and training needed to handle large-scale medical emergencies. When global humanitarian or medical crises arise, the center is adept at rapidly dispatching highly trained response teams to support local caregivers and civilians through humanitarian assistance or operating dedicated disaster response missions, including the construction and independent operation of an advanced field hospital.
Since its inception, the HDRC has launched multiple humanitarian and disaster response missions worldwide while making great strides in emergency medicine methodologies.
Prof. Elhanan Bar-On
Director, Humanitarian & Disaster Response Center
HDRC Activities
Disaster Response
Whether due to earthquakes, tsunamis or wars, HDRC response teams have been rapidly deployed on most large-scale disaster sites worldwide since the center’s inception: providing advanced care for those in need. HDRC teams assisted in Mozambique following cyclone Idai, provided aid in Haiti after a deadly earthquake and most recently, established the Shining Star field hospital that treated over 6,000 patients during only six weeks of operations in war-torn Ukraine.
Humanitarian Aid
Driven by the belief that everyone, everywhere, is entitled to good health, we work to address healthcare inequities at the individual, community, and system levels across the globe. As part of this commitment, HDRC missions arrived in Samoa to guide and aid local medical teams fighting a measles outbreak, while experts were dispatched across the globe to share the unique know-how accumulated at Sheba as a leader in the fight against COVID-19.
Disaster Medicine Training & Education
With years of experience responding to large-scale medical emergencies in Israel and abroad, the HDRC offers a variety of unique courses and training programs to share medical expertise. This includes technical training and the development skills necessary for adapting to different physical and cultural environments, offered at Sheba or on-site in hosting countries. Our faculty includes experts from Sheba Medical Center as well as national experts from various government ministries and agencies, the IDF, EMS organizations, and independent consultants.
Disaster Medicine Research
In affiliation with Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine, and as part of collaborations with other academic institutions in Israel and around the world, the HDRC actively conducts research in the fields of disaster and emergency medicine.
Our research encompasses clinical and epidemiologic studies as well as technical aspects of preparedness and operation in harsh environments. It is then used to develop novel projects and techniques that improve patient care and the management of complex medical scenarios.
HDRC Deployments
Sheba Officials Meet With Kyiv Mayor to Discuss Aid Initiatives
Future projects are set to include medical staff training and the potential establishment of an Israeli-run rehabilitation facility in Ukraine
Sheba Partners with US and Kenyan Navies for Mass Casualty Drill
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Sheba representatives joined forces with the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet (NAVCENT) to prepare the Kenyan Navy and local healthcare workers for a mass casualty scenario.
Sheba Mission to Ethiopia Gives Infants a Fighting Chance
Prof. Tzipi Strauss, director of Sheba’s Neonatology Department, led a four-day mission earlier this month to Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, to improve specialized neonatal care in the region.
Sheba Joins Oranim Academic College to Assist Ukrainian Children
Among the many challenges faced by people living through war, children face tremendous psychological struggles. In order to attend to their special needs, Sheba partnered with Oranim Academic College to create a unique therapeutic tool that will help children process traumatic experiences.
Sheba’s Humanitarian Mission to treat Pediatric Eye Cancer Lands in Nigeria
A five-day humanitarian mission to southern Nigeria, led by Prof. Ido Didi Fabian, will focus on reducing mortality among children suffering from retinoblastoma, an eye cancer prevalent in the region
Sheba and the Battle Against COVID-19
As pandemics travel fast, knowledge must travel faster. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Sheba Global has been committed to empowering countries with tools to combat the virus.
