On Friday afternoon in Migdal Ha’Emek, a man in his 60s was going about his day when he suddenly suffered a heart attack and collapsed in his home on Mishol Hadarim St. Worried family members called emergency services for help. 

Maor Ben Gigi, a new addition to the network of lifesaving volunteers of United Hatzalah, had just responded to a different medical emergency when he received the alert to the unconscious man. “I was working together with a close friend of mine, another United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yosef Zaguri, and we had just finished treating a person who had fainted on a nearby street when we received the alert, Ben Gigi explained. “We quickly rushed over to the new address in my car and found the collapsed man in his home with family members trying to sit him up in a chair. We assessed his vital signs and finding none, we initiated CPR on the collapsed man.”  

 

A minute after the duo started compressions, they were joined by the Gilboa Region Chapter Head of United Hatzalah, and Maor’s father, Yossi Ben Gigi. The trio alternated between chest compressions and providing assisted ventilation as Yossi attached a defibrillator. “We worked together flawlessly. I’ve known Yosef for many years and I even married his wife’s cousin. We know each other well, as does my dad.”

 

A few minutes later an ambulance arrived and the team joined the trio of volunteer EMTs in their resuscitative efforts. “It took a lot of effort but we finally managed to bring the man’s pulse and breathing back before he was sent to the hospital. It wasn’t my first successful CPR, but it was the first one that I did with my dad and that meant something special to me.” 

 

Yossi spoke about how proud he was to be able to save a life together with his son. “It was an amazing feeling for me as a father not only to have seen my son become an EMT with United Hatzalah but also to partner with him in saving a life on his very first day after receiving his medical equipment and becoming an official volunteer EMT with the organization. This is not a moment that I will soon forget. I hope that we work together to help many others in the future.”

 

“The man was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition. I don’t know what will be but I can say that today, with my new equipment and an unbeatable team, we did our best to save his life,” Maor concluded. 

To support the life-saving work of United Hatzalah volunteers such as Yossi, Maor, and Yosef, please click here: