Call Me Back – with Dan Senor: The People’s Army – with Dr Tuvia Book

In the year since Oct. 7, Dan Senor’s Call Me Back podcast has attracted hundreds of thousands of listeners and featured dozens of high-profile guests, from novelists and journalists to prime ministers. It was an honour for me to feature on this extremely important and popular podcast this week.

The episode was called “The People’s Army” and focused on both my personal journey to reenlist to the IDF after October 7 and the people and activities of my combat medical extraction unit (Palmar), who have been on duty in Gaza for over a year. Dan started his podcast by quoting me reflecting on what happens when my unit reaches a wounded soldier in the field.

The first question any wounded soldier says, really sums up what’s happening right now in the military and still in Israel, even now, nine months after the start of the war. Whenever we evacuate a wounded soldier, the first question is never, how am I, what’s going to happen to me? It’s always, when can I go back to my brothers?

My unit medivacing a wounded soldier from Gaza. Photo (c) T. Book, 2024

Dan then proceeded to open the podcast with my own story of “fighting to fight.”

But what makes his story so interesting is after October 7th, he (Tuvia) went back to serve in reserves, except he wasn’t called up. In fact, he had aged out. He wasn’t able to serve, but he insisted and insisted and successfully persisted. And there are stories and stories like Tuvia’s, of regular people in Israeli society who insisted on serving. And Tuvia’s story in particular is quite dramatic, which we will discuss in this conversation.

Me with soldiers of my Palmar combat medical extraction unit on the Gaza border. Photo (c) T. Book, 2024

We then discussed the inspirational soldiers in my unit; physicians, paramedics, combat medics and combat troops, both young and old, who all have incredible stories, and are all volunteers. I noted that even after a year:

The spirit is still there. The unity is still there. The tremendous sense of family is very much still strong, and the heart is still beating.

We then spoke about the critical life-saving work my unit does as “medical cavalry” extracting and treating the wounded soldiers, either by ambulance, or by helicopter with the 669 unit.  We then transfer them to hospital, whilst treating them the entire way.  They arrive within an hour from their initial injury. The reasons we are so successful in saving lives is because of three factors:

1. Speed:  The fact that we can evacuate the wounded to a hospital less than an hour after they were wounded, whilst being treated the entire way is a key factor in saving their lives.
2. Professionalism:  The medical crew; physicians, paramedics, combat medics an’, and when we are not in action, we are constantly practicing and learning.
3. Technology:  The medical technology, from digital prescription pads, to portable  ultra sounds, to video laryngoscopes, to climate controlled blood, all contribute to the successful diagnosis and treatment of the wounded soldiers.

Dan concluded the podcast with these words:

Tuvia, thank you for this. It’s badly needed. And I feel that there are so many stories like yours that just get lost in the rubble of the internal political debates in Israel. And it’s important to remember that what has kept Israel strong and so resilient is these stories, and what they represent about you and your fellow citizens, and about this extraordinary society. And I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done, everything you continue to do, and for taking the time to be with us today.

To listen to the entire podcast which brief experts of the transcript appear above please go to the following link:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/call-me-back-with-dan-senor/id1539292794?i=1000673789193