Hertzliya, Israel – Throughout Israel there has been a spate of emergency incidents that occurred in rugged terrain. These include the bus that spun off the road at the Beit Haaravah junction on the way to the Dead Sea, the crash of an ultralight experimental aircraft in the fields near Yavneh and the search and eventual rescue of an elderly man with Alzheimer’s in Petach Tikvah. United Hatzalah has expanded the special rescue training for its volunteers in the regions that they serve tailored to the unique topographical and environmental challenges of those specific areas. This week the volunteers of the Hertzliya Dror Division drilled a rescue scenario of 2 parasailers that crashed into the dunes off the Hertzliya coast. The drill was enhanced with the surprise “missing person” report that all forces to re-enter the training area to locate, treat and evacuate a 3rd person who was not initially reported to be involved.

United Hatzalah volunteers had the opportunity to train on the TOMCAR all-terrain rescue vehicle. The TOMCAR is a multi-purpose vehicle designed by IDF Special Forces, built in Israel and modified for United Hatzalah. While it had no problem traversing the soft sand and narrow tracks the operators were challenged to use the vehicle wisely to safely and smoothly evacuate the patients. United Hatzalah has a fleet of 4 TOMCAR vehicles and optimally would like to have 8 strategically situated throughout the country.

These vehicles have already proven themselves in many challenging situations including a rescue at the Maarat HaMachpelah (Cave of the Patriarchs) when a heavy-set man had a heart attack there. The TOMCAR simply drove up the back steps to the building and safely and swiftly evacuated the man.

YWN PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos.

(Dov Gordon – YWN)