United Hatzalah volunteer paramedic Sivan Mashiach discussed her experiences saving lives under fire during the October 7 Hamas attacks at the Jerusalem Post Women Leaders Summit at the Google for Startups Campus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening.
Mashiach, a rehabilitation physical therapist who has been a paramedic for twenty-four years, was awoken by her husband at 6:30 on the morning of October 7. She received a call from the Hatzalah dispatcher and was asked to go to Israel’s south. “I looked at my husband, and he looked at me, and it was obvious to both of us what we needed to do,” she recalled. Mashiach organized her gear and was soon on her way.
Trauma and Resilience
She witnessed extreme trauma, treating hundreds of wounded soldiers and civilians. “I have seen and treated victims of terror attacks, auto accidents, and other extreme trauma,” said Mashiach. “But nothing prepared me for what I saw on October 7. On that day, I saw more trauma casualties than I had seen in my entire life.”
Having served in the IDF as a paramedic, Mashiach was trained to work rapidly under fire and in extreme situations. “Quite quickly, I felt eighteen years old again,” she said. “I found myself in the middle of a field, running with a stretcher bearing a wounded soldier towards United Hatzalah choppers and ambulances. I could understand the military terminology.
“On that day, I realized more than ever, that God puts me wherever he needs me, whenever he needs me, to be an emissary for saving lives.”