Among other innovations shown was a lightweight oxygen separator, enabling emergency ventilation without bulky, high-pressure cylinders.

By Shula Rosen

A recent NPR interview from Tel Aviv highlights how new Israeli battlefield medicine is transforming survival rates for soldiers wounded in Gaza.

Technologies once limited to experimental stages are now being deployed in real time, saving lives that would have been lost in past wars.

At an Israeli military base, soldiers demonstrated tools now used to reach those injured under fire.

One officer, identified only as Ido, presented the Thor UAV—an Israeli-made drone capable of dropping both explosives and medical supplies, including blood units parachuted directly to the battlefield.

“It predicts with the wind direction where the parachute is going to go,” he explained in an interview with NPR’s Daniel Estrin.

Until recently, medics relied mainly on freeze-dried plasma.

Now, new biomedical systems allow them to deliver whole blood stored at precise temperatures, a major breakthrough. “The whole blood saved a lot of lives,” said one army engineer.

The NPR report noted that soldiers were identified only by first names because of a new IDF policy.

Among other innovations shown was a lightweight oxygen separator, enabling emergency ventilation without bulky, high-pressure cylinders.

Dr. Todd Rasmussen of the Mayo Clinic called these developments “a lot of new innovation,” noting that drone delivery of blood represents a leap forward.

He said lessons learned in Israel and Ukraine are being exchanged with American surgeons. “The strange silver lining of war,” he added, “is that such technologies often find their way into civilian medicine.”

One of those applying battlefield lessons is Dr. Galit Sivak of Rabin Medical Center, who has saved the limbs of dozens of wounded soldiers.

She described deviating from conventional protocols to operate early. “It’s written in the books to wait—but the leg won’t wait,” she said.

Her patient, 25-year-old soldier Nevo, lost much of his leg muscle when Hamas terrorists detonated explosives in a Gaza home, killing two comrades.

After months of rehabilitation, he can now bike and train again. “You always think about them,” he said of his fallen friends.

Medical advances have saved more Israeli lives than in any previous war. Yet, as NPR’s Daniel Estrin reported, those who survived carry deep physical and emotional scars.