Israeli Paramedic Uses Body to Shield Newborn During Iran Missile Attack

A Magen David Adom paramedic protected a newborn baby with his own body during an Iranian missile alert that occurred just moments after delivering the child in an ambulance. The dramatic incident unfolded on a highway in southern Israel when emergency crews received missile warnings immediately following the roadside birth.

An Israeli emergency responder used his own body to protect a newborn infant during an Iranian missile warning that came just moments after the baby’s birth inside an ambulance on a southern Israel highway.

Magen David Adom paramedic Elad Pas recounted the harrowing experience, telling The Media Line: “I shielded the baby with my body.” The incident occurred when his medical team was rushing a 23-year-old expectant mother to the hospital as her labor intensified.

With contractions becoming more frequent and the hospital still far away, it became apparent the infant would arrive before they could reach medical facilities. “There was a very high probability the birth would happen immediately,” Pas remembered.

As Pas explained to The Media Line: “We were notified that there was a woman with contractions that were becoming urgent. We understood there was a very high probability that the birth was about to happen.” When his team arrived, another ambulance crew was already providing assistance, but it was clear there wasn’t enough time to transport the woman safely.

“We saw that she was really at the beginning of delivery,” Pas noted. “So we delivered the baby right there, in the ambulance.” The infant arrived safely and started crying as the medical team quickly cleaned and examined him while caring for his mother.

Within seconds, the circumstances changed drastically.

“Immediately after the baby came out, after we cleaned him a little and made sure everything was okay, the sirens started,” Pas described. Alert notifications appeared on the crew’s mobile devices, warning that an Iranian missile was targeting their area in southern Israel.

While Israeli emergency personnel follow established protocols during rocket and missile warnings, having both a newborn and a woman who had just delivered created an unusually challenging scenario inside the ambulance.

“In general, there are instructions for what to do when there are sirens,” Pas said. “If you are in the ambulance, if you are on the way to a call, or if you are treating someone at the scene. But here the situation was more complex.” Evacuating the patient from the vehicle was impossible due to her post-delivery condition.

“She had just given birth,” he explained. “It wasn’t possible to take her out.” Meanwhile, the infant was completely vulnerable and reliant on the medical team. “The baby is helpless. Completely dependent on you. Those are his first breaths in the world.”

The crew positioned their ambulance in what they determined was the safest available location. They quickly donned helmets and protective gear while securing the mother and her companion. Pas then picked up the newborn and used his body as a shield during the ongoing alert.

“I held the baby and covered him,” Pas said. “You instinctively protect him.”

Though the tense moments lasted only minutes, Pas was struck by the stark contrast between what should have been a joyful occasion and the reality of wartime danger.

“Birth is something very joyful,” he reflected. “Life is coming into the world.” His typical duties often involve the opposite scenario: responding to emergencies where people are critically wounded or ill and struggling to survive. “A lot of our work is dealing with people in very difficult situations,” he said. “When there is a birth, it’s something optimistic. It makes you smile.”

However, this delivery was overshadowed by the ongoing conflict.

“Suddenly it was very mixed,” Pas observed. “On one hand, a baby had just been born, something very happy. On the other hand, we are in a reality of war, and we are being bombarded.”

For Pas, his duty in that critical moment was unmistakable: safeguard the newborn until the threat subsided. The warning sirens eventually stopped, the immediate danger passed, and the ambulance resumed its journey to the hospital.

“It goes into the collection of moments you never forget,” he said, looking back on the experience. Emergency medical personnel frequently encounter the extremes of human existence, witnessing scenes of loss, survival, and occasionally new beginnings.

“Our work deals with extreme situations,” Pas explained. “People in very serious condition who need help.” In this instance, the threat didn’t stem from medical emergency or trauma, but from the surrounding warfare.

“It was something external,” he said. “Missiles falling.” During those critical moments, no medical intervention or procedure was needed. “There was nothing to treat,” Pas said. “Only to make sure the baby would not be hurt.”

The infant’s first moments of life occurred not in a sterile hospital delivery room, but inside an emergency vehicle parked roadside, cradled in the arms of a paramedic shielding him from potential enemy fire.