On the Negev region group communications link (Mirs) yesterday, a message was heard warning of an impending Kassam rocket attack in the direction of Ashkelon. In the local MDA station teams hurried to put on protective clothing, and a few seconds later a loud explosion was heard and everyone rushed outside, convinced that the missile had fallen very close to the station as the noise of the explosion was very loud, but they immediately saw smoke rising from the shopping centre close by to the station and saw where the missile had hit. As soon as it was clear that the shopping centre, full of people, was the place that had been hit, the region swiftly declared a multi casualty incident and the teams waiting on call, worked according to protocol and practice known to them all, and began streaming to the place.
At that time, there were also in the Ashkelon station additional ambulances as part of MDA's preparedness, which reinforced the number of ambulances regularly used, and all of them quickly left in the direction of the shopping centre. As it was so near, the first team already arrived on the scene in only a minute and a half.
An older person and a baby who was bleeding
Zilber Maman, the first paramedic to enter the building, tells how he started going up the stairs to the third floor, from where the smoke was billowing. However, already half way, he met an older man carrying a young child in his arms, who was bleeding. Zilber took the little girl from the man's arms, and the man then immediately collapsed and lost consciousness. "At first sight I saw that he was not physically injured, and I ran downstairs with the baby, who was fully conscious and suffering from open breaks and many injuries. The child was not crying, but just stared at me and that was one of the most difficult things I have experienced, and it remains with me. When I got downstairs I immediately handed her over to the MICU which was already at the scene for them to treat her and to free me.
Rescue and treatment at the same time
I then ran up to the third floor again and saw the direct hit on the clinic which was working as usual, and whilst searching, I found another three injured people amongst all the destruction. I asked for help to come upstairs, I reported to the Dispatching Centre, and in the meantime the rescue teams of MDA and the Fire Brigade arrived. (Here I should state that there was full cooperation with the Fire Brigade and together we began rescuing and treating the injured and we extricated the victims as quickly as possible, down the stairs on stretchers. Then we searched the whole building. On the lower floor we found a number of children who had been bowling, accompanied by adults, but they did not really know what had happened upstairs, which was good".
All in all 25 minutes passed from the start of the incident until its end. Only then did Zilber realize that his shirt was full of the blood of the little girl he had carried in his arms.
Summary
5 MICUs, 20 ambulances, an MDA/Lahak helicopter, and a Multi casualty vehicle were used at the incident and transported 3 seriously wounded victims, amongst them a mother and her daughter of two and half years old, who were hit by fragments all over their bodies, and after they were stabilized in Barzilai Hospital they were flown in an MDA/Lahak helicopter to Tel Hashomer. In addition to them were 3 moderately injured people and 24 lightly injured people. MDA Director General, Eli Bin, as is his wont since the start of the firing of Kassams and other rockets on Sderot, Ashkelon and the area around the Gaza Strip, rushed to arrive at the scene of the incident in order to see the MDA teams working in person.
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