On the battlefield, their job is to take care of everyone else. But who takes of them, during and after?

Today we meet a world — part of the army, part of society, heroes who also need the help of others — in the form of combat medics.

They are young people who have seen it all. They carry the weight of decisions they made — successes they had but also failures that were unavoidable — with them for years.

Here’s a brief introduction to the world about which they will tell us today:

Elad Ariely is a 25-year-old industrial design student with a background in product management and social entrepreneurship. In addition to his studies, he works as an independent paramedic industrial designer and is actively involved in developing innovative products at the intersection of backpack design and combat medicine.

During his military service, Ariely served as a combat paramedic in several combat units in Israel Defense Forces and he experienced October 7th as an active duty paramedic. Beyond that, he continued his service and served over 400 days in reserve since his release.

Ariely is the founder of “Always Beside You – The Home for Military Paramedics”, a nonprofit organization established to support current and former military paramedics through mental health programs, pre academic support, helping mitigate the transition from army to civilian and more. After a two years as the first CEO of the organization, he currently serves on the organization’s board, helping shape its long-term strategy and growth while continuing to advance projects that strengthen Israel’s military paramedic community.

Yotam Cohen is a student at Shalem College, majoring in Strategy, Diplomacy, and Security. Alongside his academic work, he is employed at the headquarters of Israel’s Ministry of Education in the Strategy, Planning, and Policy Division.

During his military service, Cohen served as a combat paramedic in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit and later continued in extended service as a commander in the Military Paramedics Course. During the war, he served as a reserve paramedic in a reconnaissance battalion, participating in operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, where he provided life-saving medical care to dozens of wounded soldiers.

Following his reserve service, Yotam helped establish “Always Beside You – The Home for Military Paramedics”, an organization dedicated to supporting military paramedics. He currently leads the organization’s initiatives in community resilience and mental health support.

For the “Always Beside You” website (currently only in Hebrew), click here.

If you wish to make a contribution to “Always Beside You”, you can do so here.

The link at the top of this posting will take free subscribers to an excerpted portion of today’s conversation.

For paid subscribers, the link at the top will take you to the full conversation; below, paid subscribers will also find a transcript for those who prefer to read, as always.

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