Magen David Adom ambulance
Photo: Niv Calderon
Yom Kippur: Nearly 2,000 injured
MDA reports: 12 faint during fast, 195 injured on roads, 98 pregnant women rushed to hospital, ambulances stoned in several towns
Magen David Adom (MDA) had their hands full yet again this Yom Kippur. Employees and volunteers treated no less than 1,779 people in need of medical care during the fast.
MDA reported that about 65 people fainted due to the fast, and an additional 12 required resuscitation. Ninety eight pregnant women where rushed to hospitals after their contractions started during Yom Kippur.
In addition, many children were injured while cycling or skating – 95 of which required medical attention from MDA crews. Also, 23 people were injured in 22 road accidents that occurred just before Yom Kippur Eve.
A Beer Sheva hospital treated 80 bruised children and over one hundred adults suffering from fatigue and breathing difficulties. On a happier note, 30 births took place at the same hospital during Yom Kippur.
MDA reported several incidents in Kiryat Motzkin, Netanya, Jerusalem, and Ashkelon, where ambulances were stoned while evacuating people in need of medical attention.
A MDA spokesman emphasized those throwing the stones were not haredi youths.
In Nahariya, a transport vehicle belonging to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center was also stoned while picking up shift workers. The driver, of Arab decent, was insulted and scorned by residents that surrounded the vehicle. The driver was not injured but the vehicle was damaged.
Other events during Yom Kippur included the Tel Aviv police reporting nine incidents of stolen bicycles.
