Israeli fire and rescue personnel responded to a bus accident on Highway 1, the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, in which some two dozen people were injured.
Both United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom were called out for the accident on Monday morning and treated patients at the scene. Nine patients were transported to the hospital with “mild” injuries.
“At 8:20 this morning, a report was received at MDA’s Ayalon Regional 101 Emergency Dispatch Center for a private bus carrying approximately 30 older adult passengers that veered off the road and rolled on its side at the side of the road,” said a spokesman for Magen David Adom.
According to MDA EMT Lipa Hirsch, when the medics arrived, “we saw the bus on its side at the side of the road in the field. The driver had self-extricated through the window, and the passengers were sitting in the bus, fully conscious with no injuries which could be immediately seen. We helped them out of the bus and triaged at the scene to assess who needed further treatment and conveying to the hospital.”
Police and firefighters also actively assisted the passengers at the scene.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avi Press reported that firefighters extracted 38 individuals from the bus, “some of whom were waiting in the area for a replacement bus and did not require medical attention. Together with other volunteers from United Hatzalah from throughout the region, including an ambulance team, we treated 25 passengers from the bus who sustained light injuries.”
“As this incident involved older adult victims and the weather was very hot at this time,” said MDA paramedic Rami Meushar, “once the injured victims were conveyed to local hospitals, we used MDA ambulances and mobile intensive-care units to move the other passengers to Latrun Junction so that they could wait in a shaded environment and brought them water bottles so that they would not dehydrate while waiting for the replacement bus.”
