On Thursday morning, Magen David Adom's (MDA) emergency hotline received a call regarding a woman who had gone into labor at her home in Tel Aviv.
An EMT at the dispatch center, Aharon Cohen, provided telephone instructions to the husband on how to assist with the delivery, while an MDA Mobile Intensive Care Unit was dispatched to the scene.
The team, led by MDA paramedic Dr. Gal Rosen, together with EMTs Vladislav Priadko and Yuval Peleg, arrived quickly and continued the delivery on site. Within just a few minutes, a healthy baby was born at home - turning a moment of concern into one of great joy.
However, just minutes after the birth, red alert sirens were heard across central Israel, signaling an incoming missile. The team, along with the parents and the newborn baby, were forced to quickly evacuate to a shelter, while MDA paramedic Gal Rosen ran with the minutes-old newborn in his arms.
MDA paramedic Dr. Gal Rosen shared: "I tried throughout to give the mother and father the best possible feeling in this situation. Despite the pressure and the sirens, it was important to me that they experience this moment as parents - that they hold the baby, feel him, cut the umbilical cord, and begin to bond with him. In an instant, I found myself running with him in the street wearing a ballistic vest and helmet to get him to a shelter - and in the very next moment, once it was safe, I handed him straight to his father. It was important to me that he feel this is his son, that he is the one protecting him - not a stranger."
"This is not a simple reality, but within all of this, there are also moments of light. Seeing a half-hour-old baby in a public shelter, surrounded by a family full of blessings and joy, is something you don’t forget."
Violet and Nikola, the baby’s parents, said: "It wasn’t a simple experience. The labor started at home, and just minutes after the MDA team delivered the baby, the siren caught us and we went down to a shelter. The team functioned amazingly, calmed us, and treated us in the best possible way. This isn’t the ideal experience, but we’re happy everything ended safely and we’re grateful to the team who helped us so much."
MDA emphasized afterwards "that even in complex times, its teams continue to operate around the clock, saving lives and bringing new life into the world, under all conditions."