Wounded civilians were treated on the kitchen counters of the Magen David Adom station in Sderot. In the community of Naveh, synagogue benches were hastily cleared to set up a makeshift clinic. In their living room in Kibbutz Mefalsim, MDA paramedic Oren Benita and his wife, emergency dispatcher and EMT Merav Benita,
treated two critically wounded soldiers while their three young children sheltered alone in the safe room.
3+These are just a few of the austere locations where Magen David Adom waged an unrelenting battle to save lives on October 7,
and among the profound accounts featured on a new specialized website launched by Israel’s national emergency medical service.
The platform interweaves personal testimonies, geographical points of care, and critical tactical decisions that shaped the medical response on that fateful morning, alongside commemorative profiles of MDA personnel who were murdered or fell in defense of the country.To mark the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, MDA is inviting the public to explore a portal chronicling its emergency operations. Utilizing an interactive map, dynamic timelines, documentary video footage, and first-person testimonies, the website connects dispatch operators, local first responders, and emergency reinforcements who rushed in from across the nation. Together, they demonstrate how field medical care was delivered under direct fire inside besieged kibbutzim, at urban stations, along ambushed highway intersections, and on the roads.
3+The accounts offer a rare window into moments of extreme crisis where split-second decisions saved lives. Through these testimonies, visitors can learn about the responders who operated on the ground, the austere locations converted into triage centers, and the profound bonds forged between medical crews, local residents, IDF soldiers, and trauma patients—frequently unfolding while the medics’ own families remained under direct threat.
Among the featured accounts is that of paramedic Anastasia Stelmakhov, who had just completed a demanding 24-hour shift but immediately remained on duty alongside driver Nashed Nasser. The two deployed south, treated a mortally wounded police officer in Sderot, and evacuated him to an advanced care post in Kochav Michael, where MDA medical staff continued fighting for his life. In Kibbutz Alumim, MDA volunteer Gilad Honwald coordinated the evacuation of ten wounded casualties under heavy fire, personally evacuating several of them. From Rahat, MDA responders Anis Abu Daabes and Amin Alkamlath mobilized rapidly into the combat sector of Ofakim to treat severe casualties.
3+Each personal testimony captures a vital fragment of the overall effort, demonstrating how hundreds of individual crews formed a synchronized medical operation: providing immediate life-saving interventions, establishing forward treatment points, transferring patients between crews, and executing evacuations in armored, bulletproof ambulances.
On October 7, MDA’s 101 emergency dispatch centers logged over 21,700 distress calls. Within hours, more than 1,400 ambulances and mobile intensive care units were staffed and deployed nationwide, with over 300 ambulance teams operating directly across the southern sector. The digital platform provides faces, voices, and context behind those staggering statistics.
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In addition to documenting frontline operations, a substantial portion of the portal is dedicated to permanent memorial pages honoring MDA staff and volunteers who were murdered by terrorists on October 7 or fell during active military reserve duty defending the nation. The commemorative profiles illuminate who they were as individuals, their roles within their families and communities, and their lifelong dedication to saving lives.
The project preserves MDA’s operational legacy on October 7 as an enduring pillar of public memory and organizational heritage. Available in five languages, it serves as a vital educational and commemorative resource for families, communities, educators, and scholars globally seeking to understand the extraordinary valor displayed by Israel’s emergency responders.
Click to enter the site or search online for “MDA Teams’ Heroism 7.10”.