Quick-thinking paramedic Michelle Rashkovsky saved a Ramle resident who was seriously injured by a missile strike, moments before a gas explosion at the scene.
Michelle: “On Saturday, October 7th, I started to hear air raid sirens. Sirens were going off all over the center of Israel. We immediately stopped at the side of the road, put on our bulletproof vests and helmets, and lay down on the ground. Suddenly, we heard a huge blast, and black smoke started rising up from Ramle.
We just raced towards the smoke. We didn’t know yet what we were about to face, but my gut told me something serious was going on.
When we reached a neighborhood of private homes, all the residents were standing outside with terrified looks. I could see an overturned car with heavy smoke coming out of it. There was fire and screaming. Scared residents led me to a house a few meters away, where the missile had fallen.
I saw a man in his 40s from the Arab Israeli community lying on the ground severely wounded, particularly in his lower limbs. I started handling the call with the dispatch center, describing the severity of the scene, while treating the wounded person and managing my team.
Suddenly, I noticed the smell of gas. I checked the fire zone once more from a different angle and saw that the fire was approaching two big gas tanks, threatening to explode at any second. I decided to evacuate the scene as quickly as possible. A few moments later, we had transferred the patient onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, rescuing several other family members at the same time, and we rapidly left the scene.
On our way to Shamir – Assaf HaRofe Hospital, we provided lifesaving medical care to the patient who was in serious and unstable condition.
Thankfully, the patient survived and was discharged from the hospital a few weeks later, and my team and I got out of the fire zone unharmed. The injured man was fortunate to have had us so close by at that critical, explosive moment, and I am grateful we were able to provide such a rapid response and save his life.
This was a very difficult incident. I am happy we were able to respond in the best way possible.”
