Media focus on the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital’s role in treating returning hostages
As the world’s media is focused on the return of Israelis seized on October 7, 2023, the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital has been in the news since the first group was welcomed home in November, 2023.
Edmond and Lily Safa Children’s Hospital CEO Itai Pessach is also head of the Sheba Medical Center’s Hostage Recovery Team. He discussed the physical and mental state of the returnees, as well as the development of a protocol of treating them.
Dr. Pessach explained that different types of return scenarios have been simulated and practiced multiple times, allowing his teams to develop a protocol to treat those who undergo such extreme experiences and prevent further psychological damage from occurring.
Dr. Pessach, along with psychologists, nutritionists and pediatricians, continue these efforts. He observed: “Now, unfortunately, we are the world experts in receiving people that were hostage.”
For further information, see :
- First press conference of Dr. Pessach about the released hostages, November 26, 2023
- Scenes of hostages reunited with families and pets, November 30, 2023
- Latest press conference of Dr. Pessach, January 20, 2024