An IDF force was alerted Monday to treat a Palestinian woman who went into labor near the Jordan Valley. The soldiers helped move the woman to a military ambulance where she gave birth.

The infant, who had difficulty breathing, was resuscitated and then evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital by helicopter. "There is a great deal of satisfaction in giving life," Sergeant Gilad Nesher, a paramedic who treated the woman and child, told Ynet.





Sgt. Nesher practices CPR (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office)

At around 2 am the IDF received a call about a Palestinian woman in labor. A medical task force, which included a paramedic and three army medics, was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Shalom Eisner to the scene.

The soldiers said it was very dark and that at first they had trouble locating the woman, who was in a tent on high territory inaccessible by car.

The soldiers took action, handing the Palestinians a stretcher and other medical tools and the woman was brought to the waiting ambulance.

"She was relatively calm," recounts Sgt. Nesher. "We put her in the ambulance, then we performed an initial test and found she was in the final stages of labor. We had to begin the process as soon as possible."

The paramedic in charge said he had assisted labor before, but never under such conditions and without the supervision of a physician. "The baby came out but he wasn't breathing properly. We recognized that he was in distress and performed CPR until he started breathing and the color came to his cheeks," he said.

Meanwhile, a military chopper was called in and landed on a road that had been closed off for this purpose. A doctor belonging to the 669 search and rescue unit helped stabilize the infant until landing at the hospital.

"These soldiers really fought to save the baby. It was very exciting to see them. They didn't give up and proved that there is no higher value than saving a life," said a military source present at the rescue.