A gruesome scene of blood-soaked tallitot and siddurim greeted Magen David Adom paramedics as they rushed into the Bnei Torah Kehillat Ya’akov synagogue this morning after receiving calls about a terror attack during morning prayers.

With the two shooters still in the synagogue, MDA personnel worked under fire to treat the injured.

“I ran into the synagogue and saw a person injured by gun fire lying on the floor,” said MDA Paramedic Akiva Pollack, who was first on the scene. “I tried to give him treatment, and they began firing in my direction. I rescued the victim while protecting him and ran to a hiding place, where I continued to give him treatment. Within minutes, the security forces arrived, surrounded the entrance, and fired on the terrorist who was trying to run outside to escape. There was uproar and heavy shooting. People fled from within the synagogue. It was pure hell.”

The MDA teams pronounced four men dead at the scene. They treated seven additional victims and then rushed them to Hadassah Ein Karem and Sha’arei Zedek hospitals. MDA’s blood bank in Tel HaShomer also provided about 200 units of blood to the hospitals for lifesaving transfusions.

Although this morning’s attack was both physically and emotionally challenging for MDA’s first-responders, they focused on their mission of saving lives with professionalism and expertise.

“MDA teams who witnessed difficult scenes gave treatment professionally, swiftly, and calmly, some of them working under gun fire,” said MDA Director-General Eli Bin. “MDA workers and volunteers continue to remain on alert and are ready and prepared to give treatment wherever needed. Magen David Adom expresses its condolences to the families of those who were murdered and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured in the incident.”

Paramedic Aluma Simon recalls one of those injured men being brought to the ambulance with tefillin still wrapped around his arm. Right near the knot of the tefillin, he had a serious hand injury in addition to a head wound, all from being hit by the terrorists with a meat cleaver.

“We gave him primary medical treatment including sedation and artificial respiration and transferred him in a serious condition to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital,” Simon said.

MDA paramedics took great risks entering the synagogue while the shooters were still at large. One paramedic broke his leg in the mad scramble to evade gunfire when one of the terrorists deliberately targeted the paramedics treating the injured. But a willingness to enter what security officials call a “warm zone,” a terrorist site that has yet to be secured, can make the difference between a victim getting the treatment he needs and surviving or bleeding to death while awaiting medical care.

As tensions continue to build in Jerusalem and around Israel, MDA remains on alert and ready to provide lifesaving care.

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