Demand for home medical equipment loans and home/tele-health services in Israel’s north has increased fourfold as hospitals shift into emergency mode, postponing non-essential surgeries and medical treatment and sending patients home following the escalation of hostilities along the Lebanon border last week, said Yad Sarah CEO Moshe Cohen.

“Patients who went home need our equipment. That is where our field teams come in. There are thousands of people who need medical equipment. Until now it has been people from the Galilee, the Golan Heights or Kiryat Shmona who were impacted. But now there are many more evacuees, almost reaching Hadera,” Cohen said. “The most critical area is Haifa and the surrounding towns. We are trying to manage our stocks, and are making efforts to transport medical equipment.”

Medical and emergency response nonprofits throughout the country have gone on high alert in recent days as fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah has ramped up, following more than 11 months of Hezbollah attacks that have forced more than 60,000 Israelis from their homes in northern Israel. The Israeli military declared a “special security situation” across the country on Monday as it launched more extensive and deeper airstrikes in Lebanon against the Iran-backed group in what it has dubbed “Operation Arrows of the North.” Hezbollah has in turn fired larger barrages of missiles and drones deeper into Israel.

In light of these threats, on Monday the Magen David Adom ambulance service used a special advanced intensive care bus to transport nine premature infants from Haifa’s Carmel Medical Center to fortified hospitals in Haifa and the nearby town of Hadera. 

For Yad Sarah, its most in-demand products are orthopedic supplies, such as crutches and wheelchairs (to allow people to get to bomb shelters faster), oxygen cylinders and portable, battery-operated oxygen generators that can run during blackouts, Cohen said, as well as medical beds and lifts.

In light of the increased demand, the group has been asking customers who no longer need equipment to return it to Yad Sarah, Cohen added.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in the south, when demand for medical equipment also swelled, Yad Sarah put emergency protocols into place, which are again being used now, he said.

“They were implemented repeatedly, and we essentially divided the branches that operate in emergencies into those that can operate because they are in protected areas and those that cannot operate because it’s not safe for volunteers,” said Cohen. “So we have a distribution network [in the northern region.] We have branches in all the hospitals across Israel, and of course, in the northern region… So, we’re able to provide services because we prepared ahead of time.”

Providing those services — both collecting stock and distributing it — is complicated by the regular threat of missile attack in parts of the country, which puts Yad Sarah’s volunteer staff at risk.

“Physically getting to places is difficult,” he said. “There are times when areas are closed, other times when they’re open. Yad Sarah’s field teams are working almost around the clock to reach everywhere at any time, as long as we’re allowed by the Home Front Command. Everything is more complex now. The equipment is getting pricier, and logistics are becoming more complicated.”

On Monday, a rocket fell near a volunteer driver in the northern town of Kiryat Bialik outside of Haifa as he was delivering a hospital bed to a woman who was discharged home from a hospital, said Cohen.

All Yad Sarah volunteers undergo special training and instruction before joining the team and a group of volunteers underwent highly professional training on how to handle things especially during this time, he noted.

Yad Sarah made emergency purchases of NIS 15 million ($3.96 million) worth of equipment in the early weeks of the war but much of it has already run out, he said. The nonprofit recently purchased another NIS 5 million ($1.32 million) worth of equipment and is now waiting for delivery, he said.

In addition to the unexpected war situation, the Rosh Hashanah holiday period and approaching winter flu season always see an increase in demand for equipment, he added.

“So we basically have three events coming one after the other,” he said. “We are facing a very critical three months.”