MDA paramedics treated victims inside an MDA station, while terrorists fired outside.

Press Release
8.10.23
Georgi Guliak, a senior paramedic at MDA, woke up yesterday morning (Saturday) and went to his regular shift at the MDA station in Sderot. Just before he arrived at the station, he started hearing gunshots on the road he was traveling on. Victims, including those in serious and critical condition, began arriving at the station. As they provided initial medical care, massive gunfire was heard outside. The team decided to lock the doors, take shelter inside the station, and continue treating the severely wounded that remained at the station until they could be evacuated to hospitals in bulletproof MICUs.

After a few hours, Georgi, who was in command of the MDA teams at the Sderot station throughout the day, and the other paramedics, learned that terrorists had taken over the police station in Sderot. In the evening hours, after joint treatment sites for the IDF and MDA were set up, the paramedics began evacuating the injured from the police station under live fire and risking their lives. Some of the injured were transferred to hospitals by helicopter.

After the exchange of fire around the police station subsided, the paramedics and the MDA team continued to provide care and evacuate the injured and deceased within Sderot.

Georgi Guliak, an MDA paramedic, on the harrowing experience: “The terrorists passed just a few meters away from the station as they drove in trucks with submachine guns, firing indiscriminately. If they had turned left, we probably wouldn’t be here today. At that moment, we realized the magnitude of the event and that we were under battlefield conditions, at this stage without the reinforcement of additional teams. We fought for the lives of the victims in our station and did everything possible to save their lives.”

Zaki Heller
MDA spokesperson

MDA paramedics treated victims inside an MDA station, while terrorists fired outside.

A total of 832,277 Patients and casualties were transferred to hospitals

MDA Operates 166 stations throughout Israel

MDA teams perform an Average of 500 resuscitations per month

MDA evacuated 74,865 wounded in road accidents, and 5,142 wounded from work-related accidents

232 babies were delivered in ambulances and at home assisted by MDA team members

There are 350 paramedics in the organization

On average, 1,745 operational callouts take place every day

In a public satisfaction survey conducted MDA came in 2nd place after the IDF on a list of security, emergency and rescue organizations with a score of 96%

According to the organization's statistics, the average response time for an ambulance and mobile intensive care unit is 8 minutes after the first call is received

In 2015, MDA celebrated its 85th anniversary

In a public satisfaction survey conducted MDA came in 2nd place after the IDF on a list of security, emergency and rescue organizations with a score of 96%

In 2015, MDA celebrated its 85th anniversary

MDA Employs 2,200 paid staff members and activates 22,000 volunteers, 12,000 of whom are teenagers

4,500 First Responder volunteers respond to an average of 488,8 calls a month I Volunteers invest over 1.5 million hours of service per year

The oldest volunteer is 90 years old & the youngest is 15

17,954 women in labor were transferred to hospital delivery rooms

There are 3 professionals in a Mobile Intensive Care Unit

A Life Support Ambulance A MICU team of 2 includes an Emergency Medical Technician and a paramedic

100,000 Israelis have downloaded the "My MDA" cellular App

20,000 Life Guardians are active across the country

110,000People underwent resuscitation courses

An intensive first aid and resuscitation course lasts 60 Hours

More than 470 foreign volunteers from 22 different countries were trained and volunteered in MDA stations

MDA trained 3,000 young parents in Infant and Child resuscitation

1,750 teenagers are given summer courses every year in infant and child resuscitation

750 teenagers are trained during courses to manage an MCI - Multi Casualty Incident

260,000 Blood Units were donated to MDA's Blood Bank | The MDA Blood Bank Services have 43 Blood Bank Mobiles

MDA dispatchers answer an emergency phone call in less than 4 seconds

The MDA emergency phone number is 101.

MDA deploys 379 MICUs (Mobile Intensive Care Units)

MDA deploys 715 ambulances

MDA deploys 63 of which are able to navigate through difficult routes and off-road conditions

MDA deploys 8 Dune Tractors (MULES) to evacuate victims from unconventional areas

MDA deploys 5 paramedic supervisor ALS vehicles, and 2 helicopters

MDA deploys 507 First responders on motorbikes

MDA deploys 50 armored ambulances are also deployed in friction and combat zones

There are 174 MDA ambulances stationed in Kibbutzim, Moshavim and Local Councils