Heroes of October 7 - Adam And Meitar
Meet the couple Adam and Meitar, paramedics at the Sderot MDA station:
Adam and Meitar woke up at 6:30 am to the sounds of the sirens and rocket barrages. They never would have imagined what the next few hours had in store for them. Not too long ago they moved to Netivot that gazes over Gaza, but even as new residents they quickly understood what the images from the window and the clear sounds of gunfire meant.
With the instincts of a medical provider, Adam organized his immediate response equipment and within seconds the first report comes in on the "MyMDA" app about a casualty seriously injured as a result of gunfire in Kibbutz Saad.
On his way to the casualty Adam encountered a police officer blocking the road since armed terrorists were on their way to Netivot via the route Adam and the police officer were on. At 7am the extent of the incident wasn’t yet known, nor the amount of terrorists roaming in Israeli territory. Because of that, and the fact that he was armed, Adam stayed to back up the police officer.
Minutes later a large number of vehicles began to arrive at Adam's location, carrying casualties. Adam made an initial medical check on all of them and after he reached the conclusion that none of them are in life-threatening condition, he asked them all to continue with their vehicle to a safe location since the terrorists were getting closer.
While he was talking to them a large vehicle arrived carrying 2 casualties, a female in critical condition and a male in serious condition after his leg was amputated. Adam entered the vehicle with all the medical equipment he had, telling the driver to drive as fast as he could to the hospital.
In the back he performed lifesaving treatments on both of them: applying a tourniquet, bandaging them and stablizing their condition. At Netivot Junction he transferred them to an MDA MICU, where they were able to get advanced treatment on route to hospital.
At 7:30am, only an hour after the attack began and after he had already treated more than 10 casualties, Meitar joined him with another paramedic bag, and they opened an improvised clinic at West Netivot Junction, coordinated with the dispatch center, where they provided initial lifesaving medical treatment, through nonstop Red Alert sirens, to dozens of casualties who arrived there in their private vehicles from the party that turned to a massacre.
Adam and Meitar treated the many casualties, some of them were evacuated to the hospitals by MDA's MICUs, some transporting themselves to the hospital after receiving initial treatment, and unfortunately, also pronouncing the deaths of those who didn't survive.
As the first wave of casualties ended, Adam and Meitar joined the evacuation of a number of the seriously injured casualties to Soroka Hospital. They went back and forth in MDA's ambulances and the IDF vehicles who called for them from the road asking for help.
During the afternoon the security forces were chasing some terrorists who stole a Community Security Officer's car, and raced towards Netivot from Sderot. The terrorists passed Adam, Meitar and the casualties who were with them, and began shooting at them. It's a miracle they weren’t hurt.
This hellfire continued all through the day and into the late hours of the night. Throughout the day Meitar feared for the safety of her sister and her family who live in Kfar Gaza, while the reports of infiltration to the Kibbutzim were piling up.
Adam and Meitar, thank you for your incredible efforts, and thank you for being a part of MDA.
