Tal Porat

Meet the Noiman family, where no fewer than 12 members of the family volunteer in Magen David Adom’s Jerusalem Region.

The love story between the Noiman family and MDA started when the patriarch of the family, Zvi Noiman, of blessed memory, began his journey in the medical world as an army medic and instilled in his family the values of providing care and assistance to people in need. Today, the families of Zvi’s two sons and three daughters are dedicated MDA volunteers.

Zvi’s oldest son, Haim (51), was first to join MDA as a volunteer 35 years ago. For him, giving to others is a guiding principle. “Giving and doing for others isn’t just a slogan. It’s a way of life,” he says.

His children are following in his footsteps. His two oldest boys, Or (20) and Shalem (18), volunteer in MDA, and his 12-year-old son dreams of the day he can become a youth volunteer when he turns 15. Or recently completed MDA’s paramedic course while studying in a yeshiva, and then joined the Israel Defense Forces as a combat paramedic.

“It’s a lot of fun and a great honor to be part of a family that gives so much of itself to do good and help others,” says Haim. “My father was an army medic and instilled in us from a young age to do good and save lives. A few years ago, I donated a kidney to someone I didn’t know, and I still serve in the IDF Reserve’s Commando Unit as a medic.”

Haim’s brother, Israel (31), is a senior EMT and has been in MDA for 17 years. He started as a youth volunteer, following his older brother and his late father, and recently became an MDA employee.

“As soon as I was old enough, I joined as a youth volunteer and fell in love with helping others and saving lives,” says Israel. “As a child, I used to see Haim with a medical response bag, running from one call to the next. The rest of the family followed us, and since then, we are one big, happy, lifesaving family.”

Their sister, Shifi Cohen, a teacher and resident of Efrat, also volunteers in MDA. In Shifi’s case, her children became MDA volunteers first. Her oldest son, Ori (21), started volunteering at the age of 15, and was soon followed by his brother, Arbel (19).

“MDA was the topic of conversation for many years at our family table,” Shifi says. “It reached a point where I had to find out what everyone was talking about, so I signed up for the EMT course.

“The family greeted me with a lot of love and encouraged me, and all of a sudden, I was addicted too and started to understand what it was all about. The family helped me study for the exams and improve. My first shift was with my younger brother, Israel, and my son, Ori.

“Every so often I’ll meet another Noiman when I’m on shift, and it’s a very special moment — we meet while doing good for other people and saving lives together. I see my children helping others and I learn a lot from them. It’s a very powerful and empowering moment as a mother.”

“Volunteering as a family makes it a big, special experience for all of us, and also for our patients who discover that we are family,” says her son, Ori. “They are excited along with us. It’s not easy to come back from my military service straight into an MDA shift, but I won’t pass up the opportunity. I’m very proud of my mother and the rest of the family, and these are very special times for us.”

Arbel has been volunteering for almost five years as an EMT. Despite currently being at a pre-army college, he continues to volunteer. Along with his regular ambulance shifts, he prepares and accompanies trainers in MDA’s youth organization across Israel. He teaches first-aid courses to the youth, preparing the next generation of MDA.

Another Moiman sister, Orit Weinberg, has three children who volunteer in MDA: Matanel (25), Adiel (20), and Talia (16). Adiel, who started as a youth volunteer, is in a combat unit in the IDF, but still volunteers at MDA on vacations and weekends.

And Orit’s sister, Yael Bauer, also has an MDA family. Her daughter, Tzipi (17), is a youth volunteer and Yael’s husband, Hanan (38), recently became a volunteer. Hanan, a high school teacher, leads a project where students study emergency rescue subjects. Hanan completed the course with them and volunteers with his students on ambulances.

“People think it’s difficult for us,” adds Israel Noiman. “But we see it differently — as a joint family mission and something to be proud of. Each time another member of the family joins MDA, we make sure to mark the event of another Noiman in the long chain of volunteers.

“We once had a shift with five members of the family, which was very special, and then we went to the hospital to visit my late father who was hospitalized at the time. He was very proud of us and asked to keep up the good work.”

Dana Khalili of Jerusalem, suddenly woke up one night with contractions. She roused her husband, Asher, and they began the drive to the hospital.

“On the way to the hospital my water broke,” said Dana. So they stopped on the side of the road and called 101, MDA’s emergency hotline. Yossi Himmelfarb, the EMT who answered their call, instructed them on how to prepare for the birth, while simultaneously dispatching an ambulance.

“In just moments, Abigail, an EMT, arrived. She helped me give birth while I was lying in the back seat of the car. In less than half an hour after the contractions started, I had already given birth.”

Senior EMT Abigail Lederer lives on the same street as the Khalilis and received the alert for first responders on the MDA app. The app notifies the seven closest first responders who often are able to get to the scene while an ambulance is en route.

“As I approached, I saw Asher standing next to the car door, preparing for the birth according to the instructions he received [from Yossi] over the phone,” said Abigail.

“We know the safest place to give birth is the delivery room, but within seconds I realized the birth was already underway. I replaced Asher and after two contractions the baby was born.”

Mother and baby were then evacuated to the hospital in the ambulance that had arrived. Five days later, Abigail met with the parents and baby boy at their home.

“It was so moving to see the beautiful baby boy I helped deliver just a few days ago. I wish them nothing but health, lots of good luck, and rest!” said Abigail.

“Asher and I are so grateful to Abigail and Yossi,” said Dana.

Betty Kemp knows all about making sacrifices. In the 1990s, Kemp served three years in the United States Army and an additional two years in the U.S. Army Reserves. She was honorably discharged from the service as a captain.

Since then, as a civilian, she has worked as a home healthcare provider, where sacrifice means thinking about and serving others is a daily way of life.

But then Kemp has never known anything different throughout her life. Through her Christian faith, it’s just the type of person she was raised to be.

And through every phase of her journey as a servant leader, it led to a big decision to help the people of Israel….When she learned that Magen David Adom relied heavily on contributions, she made a one-time donation, which turned into a monthly commitment. Most recently, she named the organization as a beneficiary of part of her estate.

“…[The Jewish people] are set apart by God as His chosen people. Jesus was a Jew, and the Bible makes it very clear that those who bless Israel will be blessed. One way to love God is to love Israel,” says Kemp.

“I give to other agencies, but I especially enjoy giving to Magen David Adom because it is one of the biggest lifesaving ventures in Israel.”

Two terrorist bombs exploded at bus stops during Jerusalem’s morning rush hour today, killing a 16-year-old Canadian yeshiva student and injuring 22 other people, four of them critically.

Magen David Adom teams were on the scene immediately, providing lifesaving treatment, as paramedics and EMTs nearby at MDA’s William H. Bloomberg Emergency Medical Station heard the first bomb when it exploded and rushed to the scene even before calls came into the dispatch centre.

“We immediately headed to the scene in large numbers with ambulances, Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICUs), and Medicycles,” said MDA paramedic Moshe Tobolsky.

“We performed primary assessments, provided lifesaving treatment, and then transported the victims to hospitals,” said EMT Eli Gertner.

“As we were completing the treatment at the entrance to the city, we received a report of a second explosion,” said senior paramedic Emanuel Stern. “We immediately headed to the scene in large numbers of ambulances and MICUs. When we arrived, we saw an empty bus with shattered glass and shrapnel damage, and nearby cars were damaged from the explosion with shattered windows.

“A 12-year-old boy with a neck injury was by the bus stop, and a man and woman in separate vehicles were also injured by the blast and glass injuries. All three were fully conscious. We provided rapid treatment and conveyed them to the hospital in mild, stable condition,” said Stern.

“Considering the scene, this was a miracle. If the bus would have been full of passengers, or if there were [more] people waiting at the bus stop, this whole incident could have ended very badly,” Stern added.

MDA’s Blood Services Division supplied 70 units of blood components to Jerusalem hospitals.

Terrorism has been on the rise in recent months, but these attacks in the heart of Jerusalem mark the first bombings since 2016. Magen David Adom’s rapid response today made possible MDA’s culture of preparedness, which includes drills simulating terror attacks, one conducted as recently as yesterday in three Israeli cities.

But it was also made possible by MDA’s Australian supporters, whose gifts included many of the Life Support and Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulances that responded to the bombings this morning.

The lone attacker was identified as 18-year-old Muhammed Soof who worked as a cleaner in the Ariel industrial zone.

Three Israelis were killed and four others injured in a terror rampage in the West Bank city of Ariel on Tuesday.

According to the military, two civilians were killed at the “Ten” gas station in Ariel and another man was killed after he suffered multi-system injuries after being rammed in an intentional car crash near the West Bank city.

The victims were identified as 50-year-old Tamir Avihai, a father of six from the settlement of Kiryat Netafim; 36-year-old Michael Ledigin, a father of two who moved to Israel with his family five years ago and lived in Bat Yam; and 59-year-old Mordechai Ashkenazi, also from Bat Yam.

The attacks began at around 9:28 in the morning when an 18-year-old terrorist, identified as Muhammad Murad Sami Souf from the nearby village of Hares – who had a work permit to work as a cleaner in the Ariel Industrial zone – came to the entrance to the gate with a knife in his hand.

He stabbed one of two civilian security guards, moderately wounding him in the neck. The second guard fired shots in the air as the terrorist ran some 60-70 meters toward the gas station where he stabbed five civilians, killing two of them.

Souf then stole a car, drove onto Route 5 and crashed into another car, seriously wounding Avihai. The car he stole was destroyed in the crash; a civilian who witnessed it exited his BMW to help the wounded Israeli, allowing the terrorist to steal his car and flee the scene. Avihai, who had suffered from multi-system injuries, was pronounced dead at the scene. With the stolen BMW, he continued toward the Shomron Crossing checkpoint on Route 5, making a U-turn when he got to the checkpoint, driving against traffic and heading back to the scene of the crash. Souf then got out of the vehicle and tried to escape by foot. At this point, he was shot and killed by civilians: a soldier on furlough and an on-duty IDF soldier. The off-duty soldier said that he had been heading to a memorial for Shalom Sofer, who was killed in a terror attack last month, when he saw this terror attack.

“This morning while I was driving on Route 5, I noticed an unusual incident on the road. When I realized it was a terror attack, I got out of the car, identified the terrorist, and opened fire at him,” the soldier said in a video published by the IDF. A senior IDF officer told reporters that the whole event took about 20 minutes, and raised questions about the conduct of the security guard who shot in the air instead of at the terrorist. “This event could have ended in the industrial area,” he said, adding that “there was a single terrorist who succeeded – with quite a bit of audacity.” While it is believed that the terrorist acted alone, the officer said that security forces are checking to see if the individual who brought him to the Ariel Industrial Zone gate knew of his intentions or if he just drove him to work like any other day.

The three critically injured civilians were transported to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva where they remain in serious but stable condition.

Following the attack, IDF troops raided the terrorist’s village and home, arresting several members of his family. Defense Minister Benny Gantz also held a situational assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

Outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent his condolences to the families of the victims.

“We are fighting terror relentlessly and with the full capacity of the IDF, the Shin Bet and all security branches,” he said. “We have managed to dismantle [Palestinian] infrastructure and various organizations, but this is a war we must handle every day.”

Haaretz — Israelis trust Magen David Adom’s skilled medical teams to save lives 24/7 by rushing to the scenes of accidents, violent incidents, and other emergencies. Few are aware of the organization’s remarkable efforts to fine-tune its operations by adopting innovative technologies — and save even more lives.

When someone in Israel calls 101 — the emergency phone number for reaching Magen David Adom (MDA)—it takes only two to three seconds on average until someone answers the phone, significantly less time than in most developed countries. Even more remarkable is that MDA’s cutting-edge Command and Control System ensures that the response to that emergency will be extremely fast and efficient, with logistic decisions handled by artificial intelligence (AI).

“As soon as we get a call, our system analyzes the requirements and locates all the relevant resources in the area — automatically dispatching the most suitable vehicles and personnel,” explains Ido Rosenblat, MDA’s chief information officer. “The computer can make important decisions in milliseconds and reduces both response time and errors. Since in many cases every second counts, this is a game-changer.”

Alex Michigan, a senior EMT, just celebrated his 80th birthday and marked 50 years of volunteering with Magen David Adom. He is also MDA’s oldest Medicycle driver.

“My wife and daughter pressure me to get off the motorcycle, but I can’t; I’m addicted,” said Michigan.

“To this day, I also take turns in a Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulance, because there is something about helping people and saving the lives of the wounded and sick.”

Michigan began his volunteer career at MDA in 1970, when on his own initiative he went to the MDA station in Tiberias to help evacuate the wounded during the shelling of that city by Jordan. And he never left. Over the years, Michigan served in various positions.

“The true strength of this organization is our unique, dedicated, and professional human capital,” said Eli Bin, MDA director-general.

“Alex, a veteran motorcyclist, is a role model for endless caring and giving. During his decades of service, he has saved thousands of lives during times of routine calls, as well as in emergencies and wars.”

Arutz Sheva/Israel National News — Magen David Adom joined an international multi-casualty drill that featured three different scenes representing three different sized incidents on October 30.

As part of the drill concluding the annual disaster workshop arranged by the Madrid municipality, 1,200 emergency personnel, including staff from MDA alongside EMS crews from other countries such as Great Britain, The Netherlands, Mauritania, and Norway took part in the exercise. Other participants included the city emergency and security services, several hospitals, military forces, the Spanish National Police, and the Civil Guard.

During the drill that lasted 70 minutes, the emergency crews were called to deal with scenarios including shootings, explosions and hostage situations.

“Magen David Adom’s teams’ professionalism is an example to teams from other countries, both in dealing with complex scenes and also with patient treatment,” the Spanish organizers said.

Read the full story on Israel National News>>

When Shimon Michaeli, just 2.5 years-old stopped breathing during the night, his 13-year-old brother, Nissim noticed. Nissim’s quick action led to an immediate call to MDA.

“I came home from a friend’s bar mitzvah and got in bed. I noticed he wasn’t breathing properly,” said Nissim. Nissim woke his parents who called MDA.

The EMT who answered the phone guided the boys’ father, Yehuda, on performing CPR, while an ambulance was dispatched immediately. When senior EMT Eli Sloshetz arrived, Shimon was still not breathing. He resuscitated him with shocks from a defibrillator.

The EMTs who saved his life recently visited Shimon and his family in Safra Children’s Hospital. Watch the video.

Terror attacks in Israel continue to escalate, occurring nearly daily. Last Saturday, five people were shot and wounded outside a convenience store near Hebron. One of them was one of our own.

Ofer Ohana is a senior EMT with Magen David Adom who responded within minutes. While attempting to treat one of the victims, who ultimately died of his wounds, Ofer was shot and remains in critical condition. Thankfully, he is expected to make a full recovery.

“When I ran to get the medical kit, I heard [Ofer] shout, ‘I’m injured. I’ve been shot.’ We took cover and while I provided lifesaving treatment to [Ofer], we called for extra resources. He was severely injured,” said EMT Israel Lior, who was first on the scene with Ofer.

On Sunday, five soldiers were victims of two car-ramming attacks in Jericho, and like Ofer, Magen David Adom teams put their lives on the line to treat the young men.

On Wednesday, another car-ramming attack severely injured a 20-year-old man in the Jerusalem region, and this morning, a 30-year-old man was the victim of a stabbing attack at the Western Wall.

The brave men and women of MDA know the risks they face when they are called to a scene of a terror attack, but they respond swiftly and boldly, hoping to save as many lives as possible.

MDA has reminded personnel about taking necessary precautions. They issued warnings that what may be initially reported as car accidents, may turn out to be car-ramming attacks and to be on alert for unapprehended terrorists who attempt to ambush first responders as was the case with Ofer.

Medic in serious condition after arriving to treat victims of attack near Kiryat Arba; Palestinian man also hurt; gunman rammed by a security official, shot dead by an off-duty soldier.

A Palestinian terrorist opened fire near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba on Saturday night, killing an Israeli man and wounding four other people, one of them seriously, the military and medics said. The gunman was later rammed by a security official and shot dead by an off-duty soldier.

The initial shots were directed at a Jewish father and son who had been shopping at a convenience store owned by a Palestinian, between Kiryat Arba and Hebron.

The father, in his 50s, was critically injured and was later pronounced dead at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital. He was later named Ronen Hanania.

The seriously injured man was a medic — Ofer Ohana — who was apparently shot by the attacker as he arrived on the scene to assist the other victims, which included two Israelis — aged 19 and 49 — and a Palestinian bystander, all of whom suffered mild injuries.

The shooting occurred near the entrance to a Jewish settlement neighbourhood in Hebron, known as Giv’at HaAvot. The neighbourhood is located just west of the larger settlement of Kiryat Arba.