Senior paramedics were flown in from Israel Monday to teach congregants at Chabad of Poway lifesaving first aid techniques. Four years ago, a gunman opened fire at the synagogue, killing one person and injuring three others. . . .
During more than two hours of hands-on training, [Rafael] Herbst hustled around the synagogue campus, coaching attendees on how to apply a tourniquet to a wounded person lying on a pew. He watched as a trained doctor from the congregation used medical expertise to diagnose an injury while a woman helped a man pretending to be shot in his chest.
Herbst said he wanted to show the group that working together can save lives.
“We’re doing something different, something special,” Herbst said during the program at Chabad of Poway, where four years ago a gunman armed with a rifle opened fire during a Passover service, killing one of the congregants and wounding three others.
“This session focuses on a community, not an individual,” he said. “Individuals tend to freeze (in a situation) but we believe the power of community is always stronger.”
The simulation was a part of the First 7 Minutes seminar offered by Magen David Adom — Israel’s national emergency service. The program provides communities with training they say people can use during the seven minutes it typically takes for first responders to arrive at the scene of an armed attack.
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MDA’s First 7 Minutes training was provided to seven communities in California in May. See these news reports:
