November 11, 2019

135,000 people visited Kever Rachel to mark her yartzeit; United Hatzalah ambulance teams and volunteers treated some 40 people for illnesses and injuries sustained at the location in Bethlehem.

By Aryeh Gillman
Photos by Shira Hershkopf

Some 135,000 people visited Kever Rachel over the weekend to commemorate the yartzeit of the matriarch Rochel located in the city of Bethlehem.

United Hatzalah ambulance teams and volunteers were entrusted with providing medical coverage for the event treated some 40 people for illnesses and injuries sustained at the location.

Among the 40 people treated were 13 who were transported to the hospital due to the severity of injuries that they sustained.

The medical coverage included establishing an on-site medical clinic, two ICU ambulances, 9 regular ambulances, a host of ambucycles, a mobile command center, and 120 volunteer EMTs on foot, among them 16 paramedics and 7 doctors.

As is usual with United Hatzalah policy, all of the services provided to the patients were provided free of charge.

“United Hatzalah stands proud to be able to provide fast and free emergency medical services to worshippers who were celebrating Rachel’s Hilula this weekend,” said President and Founder Eli Beer.

“Being able to provide medical care to people at major gatherings such as this and Meron is something that United Hatzalah takes great pride in.”