Starting on Saturday, October 7, 2023, Hatzalah Yoch deployed hundreds of rescuers and volunteers to southern Israel to treat the population directly targeted by the attacks and missile fire. After the army, Hatzalah Yoch rescuers were the first to be allowed to enter the attacked kibbutzim in the south of the country. They discovered scenes of unprecedented savagery.
Hatzalah Yoch first actions obviously concerned the emergency care provided to the hundreds of injured on October 7 in the regions of Kfar Aza, Netivot, Sderot and Be’eri. Our rescuers stabilized 130 injured and organized their evacuation to Israeli hospitals. In the days that followed, we created a crisis room to manage and coordinate the actions of 250 rescuers in the country.
Throughout 2024, and according to current events, first aid stations were created in various areas of the country, mainly in the north, to meet the needs. The management of first aid workers deployed in the country was largely disorganized because many first aid workers were called to war. However, we keep a thousand volunteer first aid workers on the ground.
All of this was implemented without detracting from the intensive work of saving lives every day and every hour by the 1600 volunteers scattered throughout the country.
Dozens of the organization’s volunteers gave their lives for others and are still in a difficult psychological state after the difficult sights and difficult days that passed during this difficult period. The organization is working to support and provide emotional assistance to the dear volunteers.
EQUIPMENT WITH FIRST AID KITS
Equipping our first aiders is at the heart of our project: to be efficient, our first aiders benefit from the latest innovations in terms of first aid equipment. Each time medical equipment integrated into the kits is used, Hatzalah Yoch provides first aiders with new equipment so that the kits are always complete.
Israel: “classic” kits and “We Will Save Again” program
Throughout 2024, we have restocked the 9 depots spread throughout the country with medical equipment. The thousands of first aiders equipped with first aid kits systematically come to restock to keep a complete first aid kit at all times. They can also find various equipment, lamps, and generators in these depots.
At the beginning of 2024, with the victims’ families, we set up a highly symbolic program, “We Will Save Again”. We will provide 366 first aid kits to our Israeli first aiders in memory of each victim murdered during the Nova Festival. Unlike the sowers of death, Hatzalah yoch is mobilizing to save lives, thanks to its army of volunteer rescuers. Thanks to the actions of these rescuers, we will all honor the memory of the victims of the Nova Festival. So far, we have funded 92 “Nova” first aid kits.
Since 2016, Hatzalah Yoch has managed 2 therapeutic farms using animal therapy. The first structure is located in Sderot and uses small animals, rabbits, birds and dogs. The second structure, set up in partnership with the Adelis Foundation, is located in the kibbutz of Ourim, very close to the Gaza Strip, and uses horses in equine therapy programs. The goal was already to relieve the suffering linked to post-traumatic stress of thousands of children in the region… For many years, they had already been living in a state of permanent stress, alerted by sirens. Each year, in these 2 farms around 1000 children benefited from this care.
Then October 7 arrived and the 2 farms, located in military zones, had to close.
While waiting for our farms in Ourim and Sderot to reopen, Hatzalah Yoch set up an innovative program to provide psychological support to hundreds of children displaced in hotels, witnesses and helpless victims of this violence. We created a therapeutic farm in a 12-ton truck with animals and two consultation rooms, one individual and the other collective. The success of this traveling therapeutic farm has not waned. With our team of therapists, we maintained the program 5 days a week for 6 months, from December 2023 to June 2024. Approximately 85 children were welcomed in individual sessions and 300 children in collective sessions. The farm moved to 4 predefined locations per week: Kramim (which welcomed children evacuated from Kibbutz Nahal Oz), Jerusalem (which welcomed children from Sderot), Tel Aviv (which welcomed children from Kibbutz Nir Am and Sderot) and Yoshivia which welcomed children from Netivot.
Today, the traveling farm is active 4 days a week.
Our fixed equine therapy farm and our Sderot center have reopened after 5 months of closure and are always full. The demand for care is exploding because the psychological suffering of these children is exploding. How can we meet this demand?
Mobile dry cleaning
To help the displaced Israeli population,Hatzalah Yoch has created a mobile dry cleaning service, consisting of 4 washing machines and 4 drying machines. This 12 T truck travels the country to offer to wash and dry the laundry of the displaced population. Families who find themselves in a hotel room for an as yet undetermined period of time have greatly appreciated the service… This mobile dry cleaning carries out between 60 and 80 machines per day!
