More than 725 paramedics and EMTs from around the world, most of them Americans, joined together on Sunday, July 18, for a webinar on lessons learned from the tragic incidents in Surfside, Florida, and Mount Meron. The session was meant to encourage greater learning and strengthen the ongoing partnership between Magen David Adom and hatzalah organizations.
Uriel Goldberg, paramedic and MDA-hatzalah coordinator, explained that Tisha B’Av, a day of great sadness commemorating the destruction of the first and second temples, is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced over the past year: Covid, the tragic Lag B’Omer stampede near Mount Meron, another war with Gaza, and the building disaster in South Florida.
“It also showed us how communities come together, rallying around a tragedy and working together to overcome it,” Goldberg said. The webinar focused on the strategies and methods used to enable collaboration and cooperation.
As the recovery effort nears the end, authorities have identified 95 victims who lost their lives in the Surfside building collapse. Two people remain unaccounted for. Hatzalah volunteers trained by MDA were some of the first on the scene.
In one of the worst civilian incidents in Israel’s history, 45 people died and 150 were injured when attendees at a Lag B’Omer celebration near Mount Meron in the Galilee were crushed by other attendees while exiting the stadium. The death toll and casualties would have been far greater had MDA not been able to respond so quickly.
Speakers on the webinar included Rabbi Yehiel Kalish, chief executive officer of Chevra Hatzalah, and Joseph Dahan, Hatzalah South Florida cofounder and director. And from Israel: Dr. Eli Yafe, MDA deputy director-general for communities; Uriel Goldberg, paramedic and international relations coordinator; Colonel Golan Vach, commander of Israel’s Home Front Command rescue delegation for Surfside; and MDA Paramedic Raphael Herbst who spoke about MDA’s response to the Meron disaster.
