The Secret of the IDF

Why is the IDF such a respected Army?

Here is the secret.

Israel's IAI tests UV Light Solution to Sterilize Passenger Aircraft

by Eytan Halon   April 26, 2020

An innovative robotic system to rapidly sterilize passenger aircrafts using powerful UV light technology is being tested by leading Israeli aerospace and defense firm Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

Widely used to purify water, Lod-headquartered IAI has adapted UV-C (short-wavelength ultraviolet) technology in recent weeks to successfully disinfect coronavirus facilities at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) and Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center.

Now, engineers at IAI's aviation division are adapting the technology for the efficient and autonomous sterilization of passenger aircraft between flights, boosting airline efforts to restart operations in a safe and clean manner.

The UV-C technology is based on electromagnetic radiation emitted with a wavelength of 254 nanometers – a frequency that kills all germs and viruses and is more effective than traditional chemical cleaning for cabin surfaces.

"Our system consists of a robotic system that operates autonomously inside the airplane," said Avi, the IAI aviation division project leader, whose surname cannot be disclosed for security reasons. "We can give the robot a plan of the airplane or any large space, and the system will operate automatically."

The system is being tested on an aircraft that is currently being modified by IAI engineers in the company's facilities, Avi said. The system has proved to be faster than traditional interior cabin cleaning and sterilizes everything in the proximity of the system, including aircraft seat upholstery and other fabrics.

"The usual cleaning solutions require a lot of time, and involve chemicals, water and liquids. Passengers cannot board the airplane until it has dried out," said Avi, adding that the system is "much more affordable" than existing cleaning methods. "When you use this system, you can immediately board passengers after completing the cleaning process."

Adapting the system for mobile use within aircraft has not been without its challenges. Deploying the technology requires regulatory approval from aviation authorities, the addition of a powerful in-built AC power system, and the ability to navigate between the aircraft's narrowest seats.

"The system can operate very quickly within an airplane, because the distance from the system to the wall and ceilings is much smaller than a hospital room," Avi said.

The introduction of effective cabin sterilization technologies will be key to launching wide-scale operations in the decimated aviation industry, and to restore public confidence in plane travel.

On the frontlines of Israel's coronavirus fight

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/On-the-frontlines-of-Israels-coronavirus-fight-624952

by Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman   April 20, 2020

When Sabrina Grodzinski returns home at the end of a 12-hour shift in the coronavirus unit at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, her three boys run to her for hugs. But they are quickly reminded that they will have to wait. Mommy needs to shower before they can touch her in case she has any traces of SARS-CoV-2 on her body or clothes.

Grodzinski, an emergency medicine physician currently assigned to the coronavirus unit at Assuta Ashdod, told The Jerusalem Post that when the hospital informed her in January that she would work with coronavirus patients it was only theoretical. The virus outbreak had just started, and she could not envision what this meant. Now, treating coronavirus patients has become part of her daily routine. 

Although Grodzinski said that the hospital currently has enough personal protective medical equipment, she fears that if the situation continues much longer Assuta Ashdod could be at the same risk as many others of lacking the supplies needed to ensure she is safe. 

“I don’t have neurosis about the infection, but there are days that I think, did my mask have a good seal? Or, I shower three times at work before I come home. For the most part, it is OK, but if God forbid something happened, I will think, ‘Oh my God, I brought something back to them.”

Treating Coronapatients Home Hospitalisations Virtually

How do you provide #Coronavirus patients with medical care without

risking exposure? The doctors at Israel's Sheba hospital home hospitalization unit have come

up with a way to keep Corona patients and the wonderful medical

professionals who treat them safe.

The Ultimate in Co-Existence

So beautiful: an Arab nurse at an Israeli hospital reads the Four Questions,

generally recited by children during the Passover Seder, to elderly patients

who are unable to be with their grandchildren on the holiday

due to the coronavirus

Israeli Defense Company Begins Production of Thousands of Advanced Ventilators

 Just look at the incredible timescale for getting production started.

By Yaakov Lappin, JNS

Israeli defense company Elbit Systems has set up a new production line to make thousands of advanced ventilators for hospitals in recent days.

A senior company source told JNS that the production line at Elbit Systems Land Division in Ramat Hasharon is on track to producing 3,000 ventilators by the end of May.

“We have enough production workers, whom we will place on the new manufacturing line,” said the source.

A little more than three weeks ago, Elbit turned to the Defense Ministry’s Directorate for Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and asked how it could help the national response effort. A few days later, the Defense Ministry put it in touch with entrepreneurs—one of whom who had designed a small, compact ventilator, which the Defense Ministry had eyed years ago as a potential battlefield health system for soldiers.

Two weeks ago, the first two prototypes were produced and presented to an inter-agency coronavirus committee based at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. The committee decided to select the LifeCan One smart automatic ventilator as the most suitable and ripe solution. A little less than a week ago, Elbit received an order for 3,000 systems.

“These machines will enable medical centers to provide initial-stage respiration care to a larger number of patients that suffer from less sever respiration conditions, thereby addressing the acute shortage in ventilators,” Elbit said in a statement.

Destruction and Tomb Burning on Mount of Olives

Just one more challenge for the government in the 

midst of the Coronavirus pandemic

Tombstones are frequently vandalized and destroyed on the

Mount of Olives, especially in the Afghanistan Jewish section

of the cemetery. Tazpit News Agency reports on the phenomenon.