IDF Aid Delegation to Depart for Japan Crisis Zone with 60 Tons Equipment

An IDF Home Front Command and IDF Medical Corps delegation will depart for the Miyagi district in Japan on Saturday, March 26th 2011, at 23:00.

The delegation will consist of around fifty soldiers and officers including logistics teams, experts in the field of population management, Japanese translators, experts from the Committee of Atomic Energy, fourteen doctors specializing in different fields, seven nurses and nine paramedics. The teams will assist Japan’s rehabilitation efforts by providing various medical services and establishing a medical center manned by the IDF Home Front Command and IDF Medical Corps specialists.

Heading the delegation is Commander of the IDF Home Front Command Search and Rescue Unit, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Shalom Ben-Arieh. Heading the delegation’s medical team is deputy to the Chief Medical Officer, Col. Dr. Ofir Cohen-Marom.

This delegation joins the initial team of three officers who left for Japan on Saturday, March 19th, and prepared the framework for the delegation by informing them of the current situation and coordinating their arrival.

This evening (Thursday), a plane carrying approximately 36 tons of medical equipment will leave Ben Gurion Airport for Japan. Overall, the delegation will carry 60 tons of medical aid and equipment.