Teen MDA Volunteer Treats Peers After UXO Explosion Near Northern Border

A 15-year-old youth volunteer for Magen David Adom, Yair Frankental, was among the students injured in a UXO explosion near Israel's northern border. Despite sustaining shrapnel wounds himself, he immediately began administering first aid to his peers.

Heroic Actions at the Scene

"I instructed my younger brother's friend, who was also on the trip and injured by shrapnel, on how to treat him so I could move on to help those more seriously injured," Frankental recalled. "After the loud explosion, I felt that I too was injured, but I immediately started checking who needed medical help so I could assist using the knowledge I gained in the MDA youth first-aid course."

"I noticed he had no pulse and was not breathing, so I performed resuscitation until the MDA responder arrived," Frankental said regarding a severely wounded peer.

First Responder Account

David Radko, a 29-year-old volunteer medic and high school teacher from Kiryat Shmona, was the first to arrive at the complex scene where a ninth-grade student, Yair Vilansky, was killed. "I immediately began triaging the casualties and stopping their bleeding," Radko stated, praising the exceptional cooperation of the teenagers amidst the harrowing sights.

Radko maintained continuous contact with the MDA emergency dispatch while directing additional medical teams to the location and treating the wounded.