As we said goodbye to all our friends, at the Inbar hotel, the excitement of spending a night with the whole year began to fade, overshadowed by the anticipation for the next few days of Search and Rescue. The activities we had heard we would do on this program were vague. Although, we were all ready to learn some life long skills that may help us with situations in the future.
As the bus pulled up to our destination in Netanya our group was ready to jump right into the courses. At the hotel we were introduced to a staff member of Magen (Disaster and Emergency Management) who would teach us basic first aid, essential for assistance in Search and Rescue. During this course we reviewed our understanding of the human body as well as situations that may occur during an emergency. We started by learning the acronym S.A.B.C.D. With the assistance of a test dummy and defibrillator: Starting with S for safety, which included surveying the surrounding environment and transporting the injured as well as ourselves to an appropriate location. We then moved on to the A for airways; this included checking that the person was conscious, by talking to them, snapping fingers and clapping in their face. We learnt that during this time emergency services should be called. During the stage of B, or breathing, a hand should lightly be placed on the injured’s chest while your ear should hover over their mouths in order to detect their breaths. If a person was breathing the legs should be elevated, if not stage C or compressions, would begin. We learnt the process of 30 compressions to the chest, followed by clearing of the throat and repositioning of the head. We also learned what to do in cases where a defibrillator was available. Each student was given a chance to practice on a dummy and receive advice from our madrich.
The program was paused for a quick lunch of salami sandwiches by the beach, looking out to the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea.
The program resumed with learning the basic skills of how to deal with broken or amputated limbs, using silicone and fabric tourniquets, as well as demonstrations on how to strap and secure a person to a spinal board, when removing them from the crash site. Our very own brave volunteer Joel Rusanow, stepped up to the task to help demonstrate.
The program ended with videos showcasing what we had just learnt. We all found out about the importance of having these skills, and how it could change a persons chance of survival in a disaster.
The night concluded with a walk down the beach promenade to the town square for some free time and shopping, before making our way back to the hotel for some delicious food and a Kahoot game night.
Our second day started at 7:30 with some breakfast and tefillah, before we made our way back to the room where we met a new Magen staff member who taught us the different reasons for why buildings collapse (e.g. earthquake or war) as well as the levels of building structures, and the different disaster situations in which their teams search through.
Our group was shown an inspirational video of the IDF Search and Rescue unit helping out in the devastation of the Nepal earthquake in 2015. During the video a familiar face of one of the Magen madrichim, which we had met, was spotted.
This video made us realize the impact that this organization has on the protection of others, and their importance in Israel and world society.
As the day continued our group headed to Magen’s field training site where we were able to grasp the truth of how harsh the conditions are in these situations. The site held ruins of a collapsed three story building which the team had constructed.
Here our instructor taught us about all the tools one may have to use during a rescue mission. The tools ranged from cutting tools such as saws and wire cutters, hitting tools, such as sledge hammers, lifting tools and electrical equipment. Everyone was eager to try these tools out and put their new skills to the test. We entered the field and utilised all the tools to cut through cement, wood and wire.
While this day was entertaining, the real fun wouldn’t start until day three.
For the final day of the program we were finally ready to get our hands dirty. In the morning the bus drove us back to the wreckage site, where the Magen staff briefed us with a fake scenario: at 3am the previous night a building in Netanya had collapsed, and there were currently 26 people still missing, believed to be buried in the rubble. With this new information we got straight to work. Working in groups we began to survey the grounds for the missing people. Once found, trapped under levels of concrete barely alive thanks to air pockets, plans where made to rescue them and the kids got into action. We worked throughout the day, only breaking for lunch, slowly moving rocks piece by piece, jack hammering and lifting concrete. Finally, after what felt like hours of work, only some of the bodies were freed and switched with a member of a group who were stapled to spinal boards and carried out of the wreckage.
During the day students received a special visit from the K-9 unit, working along side the IDF. Soldiers brought their specially trained dogs, and educated us on how essential the dogs were to the Search and Rescue unit. These dogs were trained to hear even the tiniest of noises and to smell common scents like hair, nails, blood and more, in order to find trapped people. To demonstrate their skills one of us hid within the ruins and we all watched in amazement as the K-9 quickly went through the site and were able to locate the person.
Following our time with the dogs, we were able to get some firefighting training in, putting out fires with fire extinguishers.
To finish off the incredible day we were given certificates and t-shirts, so that we would never forget the lessons we learnt from this program.
While there is still so much for us to learn before we could ever jump into a real wreckage, It was liberating working with the tools to free the trapped “people. This allowed us to get a better understanding of how tiring the their job truly was.
Overall, as students we learnt how to work under pressure and communicate as a team, growing closer with the people around us, and creating memories that will stick with us forever.
Ashley Reid (Netzach)