“We have adapted the ATV to not only fight fires, but also to rescue the wounded in terrain that we cannot reach by ambulance. We call it ‘scoop and run.’”
The summer is the height of the arson and bushfire season in Judea and Samaria. Too often, the fire fighters would literally wait at the bottom of the hill, unable to navigate the rocky, hilly terrain, and watch helplessly until the fire was within reach of their equipment.
So, when Israel Magen Fund co-founder David Rose asked the Binyamin Security Division volunteers what they most needed, their answer was immediate and unanimous – four fully-equipped firefighting ATVs to be stationed throughout the Binyamin region.
According to Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, the ATVs “can reach any incident, regardless of the terrain, and save lives. We have huge problems with fires and arson in the Binyamin region and these ATVs have already proven their worth in saving lives.”
Firefighting ATV (Israel Magen Fund)
A second ATV was recently donated to the Shiloh area by Dr. Victoria and Paul Sarvadi, from Texas USA through the Israel Magen Fund, which is active in supporting Israel’s medical and security sectors. At the inauguration ceremony, Binyamin Security Division volunteer Ya’acov Dolev demonstrated how they have maximized the capabilities of this amazing, compact vehicle.
“We have adapted the ATV to not only fight fires, but also to rescue the wounded in terrain that we cannot reach by ambulance. We call it ‘scoop and run’,” explains Dolev. “After stabilizing the injured, the paramedic will transport him on a stretcher in the front of the ATV to the waiting ambulance.”
The volunteers serve a vast area in the Binyamin area, Israel’s biblical heartland, with about 90,000 residents living in dozens of communities from the Jordan valley in the east to the Samarian foothills in the west, and from the Shiloh river in the north to the Jerusalem mountains in the south. They are on call 24/7, answering an average of 18,000 emergencies a month, from terror and arson attacks to hiking, biking and car accidents.
IMF co-founder David Rose is committed to raising the necessary funds to purchase the remaining two firefighting ATVs for the Kfar Adumim and Ofrah areas. “It is heartwarming to hear the stories of how the two ATVS in Gush Talmonim and Shiloh have already saved lives and vastly improved the security capabilities on the ground of these dedicated volunteers. We are in this partnership for the long run, and look forward to helping save even more lives in this very special part of Israel.”
Ya’acov Dolev, who has lived in the area for more than thirty years since making Aliyah from the States, sums it all up: “Thanks to this ATV, what was once out of reach is no longer, and what was once complex and challenging is now possible.”
Presented courtesy of Israel Magen Fund