Four staff members from Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus rushed to help the victims of a terror attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on February 22 after encountering the scene during their commutes to and from work.
Sapir Aharon, a nurse in the Emergency Department, heard the shots on her way home from a night shift and realized that something terrible was happening.
"I stopped the car and got out, then I saw a young woman in her twenties covered in blood after being shot,” Aharon told the MyNet Jerusalem news site. “I immediately put her in my car, calmed her down and took care of her until EMS arrived in the area. I stopped the blood with my hands.”
Though shaken by the incident, Aharon said she was back at work that evening. “I came for my shift because it's important for me to be there as part of the team,” she said.
Dr. Hader Leit was on his way to work after he and his wife, also a doctor, left their children with their grandmother. He saw a woman who had been shot in the hands and immediately stopped and got out of his vehicle. Together with a colleague, “we put on a tourniquet to stop the bleeding," he said. "In these moments you see a wounded person and treat them immediately, checking what can be done in the field and how to save lives. That's a doctor's job, no matter where.”
Amit Ararat, an emergency room nurse, said she was able to help by using an arteriole blocking drug. It “is also used by teams in Gaza, and it was useful in stopping the bleeding,” she said.
Naama Rosenfeld had finished her shift in the delivery room and was on her way home when she encountered the attack.
"It was slow morning traffic. I heard the shooting and when I saw in front of me the members of our security forces with drawn weapons, I understood that this was a major security incident,” Rosenfeld told MyNet. “I asked if they needed help, and since I was in a nurse's uniform, I got out of the vehicle. I wanted to help with whatever it took until Magen David Adom ambulances arrived. I saw a young injured woman and approached her, to calm her down and see if I could help. I was with her until the ambulances arrived. We helped direct the officers to the wounded because it was very complicated to get through and reach everyone. Although I didn't have medical equipment, the presence of a staff member who comes to check what's going on in itself creates a calming atmosphere.”
One person was killed and five others were wounded in the terrorist shooting attack.
Read the full story on the MyNet news site (in Hebrew)