BGU & YOU | NOVEMBER 2023

eight in the morning till ten at night, we treated dozens of wounded. The next day, on Sunday morning, I was officially drafted and have been on reserve duty ever since." Dr. Wacht quickly realized where the situation was headed. "I saw the wounded and it was clear to me that this was a complex, difficult and dangerous event. I switched into intense action 'mode'. In those critical first hours, many of my students who had completed their degree in emergency medicine worked alongside me. This was their first experience with such a difficult event. Their education was a three-year long process, and they were supposed to gradually become professionals. Here, the circumstances shortened that process.” Two close friends, senior doctors at Soroka, were among the victims of the massacre and Oren is still having trouble accepting their loss. "They were more than close friends, they were like members of my family." This was different than any other previous experience, Dr. Wacht said. “This time I had the feeling that it was endless, never-ending. I found myself in situations where there were four people with gunshot wounds in the ambulance at the same time and I was completely alone with them. During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, in comparison, I intermittently treated individual wounded soldiers, and things were relatively normal." In the first days of the war, terrorists still roamed the roads that served as transport routes for evacuation and rescue vehicles, which made the task even more complicated. "The mortal danger was palpable; we treated the wounded under fire. I had never experienced such a level of risk," he says candidly. Dr. Wacht, now 49, travelled to India for his “post-army” trip and volunteered at a hospice there. That was where he realized that his vocation in life was to take care of people, and this led him to a career as a paramedic. Later, he studied for a doctorate in emergency medicine at Ben-Gurion University while working as a paramedic at Magen David Adom. As a lecturer and then as head of the department, he teaches his students how to function in volatile situations without losing their cool. He was instrumental in the establishment of Field Family Medical Simulation Center, where training involves the simulation of real scenarios, and now serves as its academic director. Being a paramedic means choosing a way of life based on helping others. "It is a profession that envelops you in all areas of life; a world in itself that is very challenging", he

explains. "It gives you the privilege to stand by people's side in their most challenging moments in life, and sometimes this is no less important than CPR. You need to put yourself in the shoes of the patient and their family. They expect 100 percent of your attention, and you should treat each patient as if they were a member of your own family." As the war now stretches into its second month, Dr. Oren Wacht eyes the future with a sober gaze. "Take a deep breath. We have been through a collective traumatic experience, an extreme situation. For one’s personal resilience, it’s important to be active – anything from helping harvest cucumbers in the western Negev to volunteering at the hospital. Don’t sink into depression; spending entire days in front of the TV watching the news is definitely not recommended. We are strong and we will get through this too." For the entire interview with Dr. Oren Wacht on BGU Radio (in Hebrew): https://www.facebook.com/reel/716191230357123

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