Saving life under fire in Haifa

On a fateful Friday afternoon, when ballistic missiles struck Haifa - Israel's third largest city, home to a mixed population of Arabs and Jews, four strangers from the mixed communities found themselves in the right place at the right time. This is a story of remarkable coincidence that, combined with dedication, commitment to humanitarian service, and professional knowledge, ultimately saved lives

It was on a Friday afternoon that sixteen-year-old Itai Mason and his father David were driving through Haifa when air raid sirens suddenly began wailing, warning of incoming missile fire from Iran. David immediately pulled over, and both father and son quickly exited their vehicle to find shelter. Unfortunately, they couldn't reach safety in time.

A ballistic missile struck nearby, severely injuring both of them. Itai was bleeding heavily from neck wounds, while his father David sustained injuries across his entire body.

Moments before, twenty two-year-old Dalia Frichat, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), first aid instructor, and dispatcher with Magen David Adom (MDA) from Haifa, had just finished an exhausting morning shift at the emergency dispatch center. Driving home, she too found herself caught in the Iranian missile barrage.

"The alarm sounded while I was on the highway," she recalled. "I looked left and right—no buildings, nowhere to take cover. Just me, the open sky, and God. I lay down on the floor. Then I heard a massive explosion to my right, maybe a few hundred meters away."

Without hesitation, Dalia knew what she had to do. Drawing on her training, she searched for the impact site to help any casualties. "I drove toward the explosion, got out, and ran toward where I thought the missile had struck, following the smoke. All the while, I could hear explosions and glass shattering, smelling smoke in the air. Then someone shouted, 'MDA! Help! There are casualties here!'"

Upon reaching the scene, Dalia quickly assessed the situation and realized both Itai and his father were critically injured. "I approached them and saw Itai bleeding heavily from his neck. His father David was desperately trying to stop the bleeding with his shirt, despite being severely injured himself. I told him, 'I'm here now,' then applied direct pressure to stop the bleeding while keeping them both calm."

Meanwhile, MDA Paramedic Ahmad Zidan, who lived nearby, arrived at the scene.

Ahmad is 29 years old and lives in Haifa with his parents. He has been with MDA for fourteen years - he started as a youth volunteer and is now staff and a volunteer with the First Responders unit.

Members of this unit are equipped with emergency advanced first aid kits. When there is a medical emergency, MDA's advanced system identifies the five closest volunteers by GPS and dispatches them through a dedicated app. They drop everything and rush out to save lives - day or night, 24/7, regardless of what they were doing at that moment.

That time was different for Ahmad:  the missile's blast wave had shattered his home's windows, nevertheless, he didn't hesitate to respond.

"I was at home when the alarm sounded," Ahmad explained. "I took my family into a sheltered room. After a few minutes, we heard an enormous explosion and felt the blast wave. When I went out of the sheltered room, I saw all our windows were broken, glass scattered everywhere."

Ahmad immediately took action. "I reported the strike to my colleagues at MDA emergency dispatch center, and they deployed me to where Itai and his father were injured. I responded in the Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) I keep on standby. When I arrived, Dalia was already treating them. Together, we provided life-saving medical care and rushed them to the hospital in critical condition, knowing another alarm could sound at any moment."

This was not Ahmad and Dalia's first time operating under fire. Both have experience with rockets and missiles attacks.

"Since October 2023, rockets and missiles have been fired toward populated areas in Israel, particularly in the northern communities," Dalia explained. "It's terrifying. I remember when a drone hit a kindergarten in Nesher. One of our dispatchers has a sister was a teacher in  that kindergarten, she told us she got all the children into the sheltered room, just minutes before impact. That's what saved their lives."

Like many MDA's staff and volunteers, Dalia began as a youth volunteer at MDA's Haifa station, immediately feeling she'd found her calling. She completed emergency medical technician certification and serves as a first aid instructor, yet, she finds dispatching work most meaningful.

"Being a dispatcher means you're patients' and families' first point of contact," she explained. "You must quickly understand the medical emergency, pinpoint its location, and provide life-saving phone instructions. It's balancing information urgency with humanity and empathy."

Both Itai and his father survived. After a while, Ahmad and Dalia visited them during recovery. Itai shook both of their hands and said, "You are heroes. Thank you for saving my life."

"It was incredibly moving," Dalia reflected. "After such a difficult long time we've been through, with so many casualties, tragedies and losses, seeing someone I'd treated, someone so severely injured, walking and talking normally... it renewed my strength and motivation to continue this work," she said.