Israeli Rescue Team Sneaks into New Orleans to Help with Disaster Relief

September 28, 2005

Source: The Jerusalem Post

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1127874074032

On September 28, 2005 The Jerusalem Post reported, "Washington may have rebuffed Israeli offers of expert assistance in the days after Hurricane Katrina, but a team of Israeli rescue personnel managed to deploy in some of the worst-hit areas around New Orleans, JTA has learned. The 18-member team — which included physicians, mental health professionals, trauma specialists, logistics experts and a special unit of Israeli police divers — arrived in St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish on Sept. 10 and spent a week and a half assisting fire department search-and-rescue squads and sitting in on daily planning meetings that included local leadership and a complement of FEMA, police, military and fire representatives, the Israeli team's leader said. The team administered first aid to survivors, rescued abandoned pets and discovered victims of the storm, which ravaged the Gulf Coast."