PHOTOS: MDA Paramedic Joins Team Saving Refugees Out at Sea

[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Magen David Adom paramedic Yisrael Papa was sent on a special shlichus, out to the waters of the Mediterranean Ocean to meet with personnel from MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) treating refugees along with Italian Red Cross workers.

Papa boarded the MOAS vessel manned by Italian Red Cross personnel too as part of the life-saving efforts of thousands of refugees at sea. Papa and the other members of the medical teams treated hundreds of refugees.

Papa, 22, is a resident of Ramat Gan did not spend Rosh Hashanah or Sukkos with his family for he was out at sea as part of this life-saving team treating over 3,000 refugees and migrants.

According to the United Nations, during 2016, over 7,000 refugees died at sea. They board large rafts and hope to reach Europe but inclement weather and the realities of the ocean are what they are. In March 2016 the MOAS NGO decided to get involved together with the Italian Red Cross and they began rescuing them at sea. They operated off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia. When they spot the vessels and those on board in distress they head to them and begin treating them. They are brought to the shores of Italy where the government has decided to take them in.

The medical professionals include one physician, two nurses and now a MDA paramedic which is the Israeli Red Cross. On the average, they rescue 130 people from each craft. They begin with three medical personnel boarding and beginning to assess the situation and triage those on board.

At a recent assembly held in Israel, organized by MDA and addressing treatment of mass casualty incidents, Panu Saaristo, who is responsible for medical care in a mass casualty incidents for the International Red Cross decided to tap another resource, the MDA paramedics who by and large have a wealth of experience dealing with mass causality scenes. This led to the decision to assign Papa to the team.

MDA officials and Papa expressed pride in the mission as a humanitarian organization, and he has been working to save lives during the six-week mission.