Home / War and Conflict / Nurse's Resilience Amidst Oct. 7 Trauma
Nurse's Resilience Amidst Oct. 7 Trauma
5 Oct
Summary
- Nurse treated over 30 patients and lost many on Oct. 7.
- Her sister was held hostage for 53 days before release.
- A hospital declared a mass-casualty incident and ordered extra blood.
On Oct. 7, 2023, nurse Nil Kirsht-Levi treated patients from her safe room while her own children were present, as terrorists invaded her community. She tragically lost over 30 patients that day and learned her sister, Rimon Buchshtab-Kirsht, had been taken hostage to Gaza.
After weeks of uncertainty and campaigning, Kirsht-Levi's sister was released 53 days later, emaciated and scarred, following a ceasefire. Her brother-in-law, however, was murdered by terrorists.
Simultaneously, midwife Michaela Koretsky provided improvised medical aid to wounded kibbutz members in her home, improvising treatments under fire. Her husband then evacuated the wounded to waiting ambulances.
Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba declared a mass-casualty incident early on Oct. 7, increasing staff and ordering significant blood supplies. The hospital received 674 wounded in the first 24 hours, facing challenges from the sheer volume of casualties and the direct impact on its staff, many of whom had families under attack.
