Dr. Nancy Caroline
Dr. Caroline gave her life to others. A native of Boston and graduate of Radcliffe College and Case Western University Medical School, she was one of the first advocates for pre-hospital and paramedical care and wrote Emergency Care in the Streets, in continuous publication since 1979.
In 1977, Dr. Caroline immigrated to Israel to become Medical Director of Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the American Red Cross. In the early 1980s she joined the Flying Doctors, caring for the needy in East Africa. "She liked to be where the action was," said her brother.
Upon Dr. Caroline's return to Israel, she got additional training in oncology and in 1994 established the Hospice of the Upper Galilee, a nonprofit hospice that provides comprehensive palliative care. For the last 15 years she gave her life to cancer patients and their families until cancer took her own life. The hospice she founded would ultimately treat her in her final illness. Sadly, Nancy Caroline died in Israel in December 2002 and was buried in her native Boston. In her memory, the hospice was renamed as the Nancy Caroline Hospice of the Upper Galilee.
From the Boston Globe, December 13, 2002 :
"Without Caroline's work and support, EMS would not have evolved into the profession it has become."
- Dr. Bryan Bledsoe, Author of "Paramedic Medical Care"
From Dr. James Shalom at Nancy's Funeral in Boston, December 17, 2002 :
"Nancy Caroline succeeded in developing expertise in fields as diverse as photography and art, architecture and literature, health promotion in Ethiopia and agricultural development in Kenya, flora and fauna of Israel along with the familiarity with the country's politics and health policies. Her major forte was, of course, medicine. She related that it was a foregone conclusion that she would be a physician. In particular, one of her accomplishments in this field was to set up an educational program for paramedics in the U.S. In each field she delved into, she not only learned the subject matter to a high level of professional proficiency, she also promoted and advanced issues related to that field."
- Dr. James Shalom, Eulogy for Nancy Caroline
Dr. Nancy Caroline, inspirational founder of the Hospice of the Upper Galilee, has passed the burden of supporting the Hospice Movement in Northern Israel to us, her survivors.
