Posted on 04/29/21
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yehuda Gottleib who was one of the first responders at the scene of the mass casualty incident in Meron said: "I was on duty when I saw dozens of people fall on top of one another during the collapse. A large number of them were crushed and lost consciousness. I immediately requested backup from the on-site dispatchers and told them to send as many additional volunteers and medical personnel as they could to the scene and that we had dozens of injuries."
Vice President of the Volunteer Department of United Hatzalah Lazar Hyman who was at the scene said: "This is one of the worst tragedies that I have ever experienced. I have not seen anything like this since I entered into the field of emergency medicine back in 2000."
Vice President of Operations Dov Maisel who was also at the scene relayed: "Due to the severity of the incident our Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Team is currently treating dozens of people who suffered emotional stress reactions to the incident and are treating many people for shock."
CEO of United Hatzalah Eli Pollack, who ran the on-site dispatch center during the incident said: "This is a very tragic and unusual incident that sadly cost many people their lives. Dozens of our volunteers performed CPR on the victims who were crushed, while others treated more than 100 people who were injured with varying degrees of severity. Our ambulance teams transported the injured to Ziv Hospital in Tzefat, Rambam Hospital in Haifa, and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.