United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Itzhak Miro, who hails from Tirat Carmel, a suburb of Haifa on the western slopes of Mount Carmel, was relaxing at home late one evening a few weeks ago, when all of a sudden the emergency alert siren on his phone began to sound notifying him that a medical emergency was taking place in his vicinity.
A few streets over from where Itzhak lives, a pregnant woman was eating pasta when she began to exhibit signs of anaphylaxis. Realizing that the dish must have been prepared with mushrooms to which she is allergic, she anxiously instructed her husband to call United Hatzalah Dispatch and Command Center in order to send help immediately.
Without hesitation, Itzhak rushed outside and hopped on his ambucycle and raced to the given address. Less than three minutes later, he arrived at the address, together with fellow United Hatzalah EMT Chaim Gitter.
Itzhak and Chaim Gitter raced up the stairs and into the family’s home where they found the 45-year-old woman struggling to breathe. The woman had broken out in a rash and complained of severe itchiness across her body.
“Without thinking twice, I administered an EpiPen – saving her life,” recalled Itzhak. “Within a minute from receiving the injection, she was breathing more comfortably and her other symptoms also began to subside. Her rash disappeared entirely over the next few minutes.”
Itzhak and Chaim continued to monitor the woman’s condition until a mobile intensive care ambulance was able to arrive about 10 minutes later. They briefed the crew and loaded the patient into the emergency vehicle for rapid transport to the closest hospital.
“Had we been delayed by just two more minutes in arriving and administering the initial medical intervention, it would have drastically changed the life of this woman, and the lives of her husband, and their four children,” Itzhak said. “In this instance, the speed of initial treatment was everything. Thanks to my driving an ambucylce, I was able to save this woman’s life.”
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