The Emergency That Ended With a Victory Lap

Every emergency call is different, but most follow a familiar routine.

A call comes in from the United Hatzalah Dispatch Center. You grab your gear and hightail it to the location. You arrive on scene. Assess the situation. Treat the patient. Stabilize and prepare to transport to the hospital if needed. Otherwise, you send them on their way. Afterwards, you clean up, pack your equipment, and head home. Ready for the next call to come over the pager.

As I said, most calls unfold that way, more or less. Just not this one.

Today, I responded to a call at a local go-karting establishment in Jerusalem’s Talpiot neighborhood.

The alert came over my United Hatzalah pager. An unconscious youth at the go-kart track.

As a volunteer EMT, I never really know where the next call will take me. One moment I am in the middle of my regular day, doing something completely ordinary, and the next moment I’m rushing off to a place you did not expect.

I had no plans to go-kart today. But the call came in, and I responded. I was not far from the emergency, so I arrived very quickly and first. I knew very well that when someone is unconscious, every second matters.

When I got there, I found a strange combination of scenes. On one side, there were kids having fun, helmets in hand, waiting their turn for a lap around the track. On the other side, there was this young person who needed urgent medical care.

No matter how unusual the setting may seem, we are used to this. Emergencies happen everywhere. They happen in homes, offices, schools, synagogues, shopping centers, and, apparently, at go-kart tracks.

The first order of business was to assess the scene and check the patient’s condition. When someone is unconscious, we pay close attention to breathing, responsiveness, and overall stability. Apparently, he suffered some kind of seizure and passed out while riding the go-kart, crashing into a pile of tires. We began treating the patient. Checked all his vitals. Soon, the patient’s condition began to improve, and he slowly regained consciousness. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was prepped and ready to be transported to the hospital for further medical evaluation and treatment.

At this point in the call, things are much calmer and winding down.

I felt that familiar feeling of relief and gratitude for having the training and ability to help someone who needed help.

Typically, this is where the story would end. And when I would start gathering my equipment, clean up a bit, and get back to my day.

Just then, someone from the go-kart center looked at me and said, “Job well done. You deserve a victory lap.”

Now, I want to be clear. I am a serious EMT. I take volunteering with United Hatzalah very seriously. I understand the weight of the responsibility that comes along with the orange vest. I know that when I arrive at a scene, people are looking to me for calm, professionalism, and help.

But I am also someone who enjoys having fun.

So when someone offers you a go-kart after a successful emergency call, you simply say, “Sure. Thank you.”

I set down my gear. I didn’t even need to switch my helmet, because I already had my United Hatzalah headgear on, because the most important rule is always, safety first. I jumped right into my go-kart.

Three. Two. One.

Off I went.

I know there were no sirens. No flashing lights. No bright orange exterior. I wasn’t racing to my next emergency call. For those few minutes, it was just pure, simple fun.

This is also part of being a first responder.

People often see only the intense side of the work. CPR. Blood. Trauma. The rush towards the emergency and danger.

But just as real are the smiles and laughter we have at the end of a call. The thank you. The hug. The little human moment that reminds you why you do this in the first place.

By the time I got out of that go-kart, I felt grateful, smiling, and ready for the next emergency.

There might not be a go-kart or racetrack at the end of every call, but that feeling of helping someone in need is always the ultimate victory.