On Thursday afternoon in Tel Aviv, a 10-month-old child ate a snack and his face began to swell. His mother immediately contacted emergency services for help.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Chanoch Cohen was leaving his office after a long day of work when he received a notification about the emergency on his communications device. He jumped on his ambucycle, flicked on the lights and sirens, and raced to the scene.
Arriving in under 90 seconds, Cohen found the panicked mother waiting in the street, carrying her son. As Cohen stopped his ambucycle on the side of the road, the mother explained that her son was allergic to eggs and he had just eaten a snack she thought was safe. The EMT did a quick assessment of the child’s condition, and immediately recognized that the child was having a severe allergic reaction.
Cohen immediately took out a child EpiPen from his medical kit, checked its validity, and administered it to the child, while the mother held him tightly to comfort him from the pain. Cohen then provided oxygen support to the child. After a moment, the child’s condition improved as a result of the EpiPen injection.
Shortly after, an intensive care ambulance arrived. The child was transported to the hospital for further observation and treatment.
“At rush hour in the center of Tel Aviv, I don’t want to imagine what could have happened to the child if I hadn’t been able to cut through traffic with my ambucycle.” said Chanoch after the incident. “I’m really glad I was able to help save his life.”