IDF sets up communications system in Haiti

An Israel Defense Forces team in Haiti has set up a satellite-based communications system.

The $2 million system is one of the area’s main means of communications, according to a report in the Israeli business daily Globes.

The system enabled doctors at Israel’s field hospital in Port-au-Prince to conduct surgery using video conferencing with surgeons at Israeli hospitals.

Communications lines in Haiti were destroyed in the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.

Journalists from around the world have used the system to file stories, and members of the Israeli delegation have been able to call home.

A survivor pulled from the rubble after six days also was able to call her mother using the system, according to Globes.