Two terrorist bombs exploded at bus stops during Jerusalem’s morning rush hour today, killing a 16-year-old Canadian yeshiva student and injuring 22 other people, four of them critically.
Magen David Adom teams were on the scene immediately, providing lifesaving treatment, as paramedics and EMTs nearby at MDA’s William H. Bloomberg Emergency Medical Station heard the first bomb when it exploded and rushed to the scene even before calls came into the dispatch centre.
“We immediately headed to the scene in large numbers with ambulances, Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICUs), and Medicycles,” said MDA paramedic Moshe Tobolsky.
“We performed primary assessments, provided lifesaving treatment, and then transported the victims to hospitals,” said EMT Eli Gertner.
“As we were completing the treatment at the entrance to the city, we received a report of a second explosion,” said senior paramedic Emanuel Stern. “We immediately headed to the scene in large numbers of ambulances and MICUs. When we arrived, we saw an empty bus with shattered glass and shrapnel damage, and nearby cars were damaged from the explosion with shattered windows.
“A 12-year-old boy with a neck injury was by the bus stop, and a man and woman in separate vehicles were also injured by the blast and glass injuries. All three were fully conscious. We provided rapid treatment and conveyed them to the hospital in mild, stable condition,” said Stern.
“Considering the scene, this was a miracle. If the bus would have been full of passengers, or if there were [more] people waiting at the bus stop, this whole incident could have ended very badly,” Stern added.
MDA’s Blood Services Division supplied 70 units of blood components to Jerusalem hospitals.
Terrorism has been on the rise in recent months, but these attacks in the heart of Jerusalem mark the first bombings since 2016. Magen David Adom’s rapid response today made possible MDA’s culture of preparedness, which includes drills simulating terror attacks, one conducted as recently as yesterday in three Israeli cities.
But it was also made possible by MDA’s Australian supporters, whose gifts included many of the Life Support and Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulances that responded to the bombings this morning.