As Mother’s Day approaches, Israel’s national emergency medical service is highlighting the role of mothers among its staff and volunteers, many of whom have been working under wartime conditions while raising families.
Magen David Adom, or MDA, operates nationwide with more than 39,000 staff members and volunteers. Since the Oct. 7, 2023 and the war that followed, its teams have responded to mass casualty incidents, rocket fire and other emergencies across the country.
Among them are mothers serving as paramedics, ambulance drivers and managers, often balancing irregular shifts and high-risk conditions with childcare and family responsibilities.
Orit Ohana, an ambulance driver and paramedic from the Jordan Valley, is also a reservist in the military’s Home Front Command, which handles civilian emergency preparedness. A biology teacher, mother of seven and grandmother of five, she said she was already a parent when she began volunteering with MDA.
On Oct. 7, Ohana drove south to treat the wounded and later spent three months serving as a medic along Israel’s northern border.
