At 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Issac Mougrabi was working his shift at a supermarket in Holon. As Issac was stocking the shelves his communications device began to alert him to a nearby medical emergency. A construction worker had been standing on a ladder fixing the ceiling when the workers in the next room heard him fall. The alarmed workers found the 58-year-old unconscious on the floor after sustaining a head injury.

Issac rushed over to his manager and asked him quickly to let him run over a few blocks down to the address of the emergency. Seeing Issac’s rush and determination, he allowed him to leave. Issac ran out of the store, hopped on his ambucycle, and headed down Professor Moshe Schorr street to the given address.

 

Issac quickly located the building and arrived at the scene first, in just 90 seconds. Issac grabbed his medical bag and rushed into the building where he found the workers huddled around the unconscious man. Quickly checking his vitals, and finding no pulse, Issac launched into CPR.

 

As Issac began chest compressions on the man, another United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Lior Argi arrived at the scene and joined the effort pulling out his defibrillator. Argi quickly applyied the pads, and Issac briefed Lior on what had happened. It appeared that the worker had suffered a heart attack when he was on the ladder, causing him to fall down head first, hence the head injury.

 

The defibrillator advised a shock and one was administered between chest compressions. After the shock, Issac returned for another round of compressions as Lior helped with assisted ventilation. After a second shock was given an ambulance arrived at the scene, and the crew opened an IV line for the 58-year-old.

 

After a few minutes, the man’s pulse returned and Issac stopped with compressions. As the mobile intensive care ambulance arrived at the scene, the man even began breathing on his own. After making sure that the man was in stable condition on his way to the hospital, Issac returned to his work shift.

 

“As I started working at the local grocery store, I informed my future manager that if I needed to, I would need the flexibility to leave a shift, in case of an emergency,” commented Issac. “I’m very grateful that I can work in an environment of people that understand that when an emergency occurs, I must get up and go. The emergency was close and because of that I was able to arrive fast, and save the man’s life.”

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