(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

On Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar at 6:00PM, a woman who was feeling sick approached the MDA Dead Sea station accompanied by a 40-year-old man. While MDA staff was conducting anamnesis on the patient, the man began assaulting one of the MDA EMTs by punching and kicking her. The EMT is currently suffering from two fractures in an arm, a wound in her right thigh and strong pain in her lower back. The attacker’s arrest was extended by the court.

In protest, the Magen David Adom employees’ organization has requested to take organizational measures and halt part of MDA’s services. However, due to the Director General’s request as well as the vitality of such services to saving lives, the organization will not take organizational measures at this time. The employees’ organization calls authorities and the legal system to act with a firm hand against those who use violence toward service providers in the health system and MDA employees.

MDA paramedic Yarden Madar who was an eye witness shared: “I was in the next room when I heard a man yelling. I quickly ran to see what was happening and the sight was shocking. I found the EMT on the ground, beaten and upset, I pushed the attacker away, locked the door and policemen who were called to the scene arrested him.”

Sarah Israeli, the assaulted EMT said: “The couple walked into the MDA station. The woman looked as though she wasn’t feeling well so I offered her to sit. A man who was with her explained how she was feeling. Since we suspected the woman was dehydrated, we were required to examine her by asking questions and evaluating her sense of awareness and orientation, so I asked to speak to her. The man became angry and started yelling, asking me to only speak to him. After I asked him to stop yelling he began kicking me and pushed me to the ground, I was badly hurt and shocked. The paramedic in the next room heard us yelling, ran towards me and pushed him away from me. After the man left we locked ourselves in the room together with the patient in order to prevent him from assaulting one of us again. I then called MDA’s regional dispatch center saying – ‘I’ve been assaulted, please call the police.’ In 5-10 minutes a police car arrived on the scene, policemen arrested the man and got the woman’s information.”

“We do our job because of a sense of mission. These incidents are rare and shouldn’t change that. This is the first time I have ever experienced physical violence on the job, I am still a bit overwhelmed and I hope that legal authorities punish the attacked reasonably. He broke my arm but not my spirit, I will continue to do the work I love so much with MDA.”

MDA Director-General, Eli Bin said, “This is a very serious incident against MDA teams that cannot be disregarded. I call the Israeli Police and law enforcement authorities to punish the attacker reasonably and thus convey an important message. As a society, we must condemn any violence of this type against medical teams.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)