On a recent Shabbat morning, a young woman who thought she was in the early stages of pregnancy suddenly began bleeding. The woman became hysterical and fainted on the spot.  Her alarmed husband threw water on her face in an effort to awaken her. While the woman did wake up shortly afterward, she now felt strong chest pains and was convinced that she was having a heart attack. The now frantic husband called emergency services. The couple’s children were traumatized at seeing both their parents hysterical.

Not far away, Noam Alice’s 3 little boys were waiting eagerly to go to the synagogue with their father. Noam was about to leave the house when he received an alert about a woman post syncope (after fainting). The dedicated volunteer dashed outside jumped on his ambucycle and yelled to his kids “Don’t worry, Abba will be back soon.” Noam sped away as the youngsters watched their father, as they had many times before, race off to help someone.

Noam arrived at the address in under 2 minutes. Entering the home, Noam was met with the chaotic scene of screaming children, a distraught woman who thought she was dying and her panic-stricken husband. The seasoned medic kept his cool and quickly took the woman’s vital signs. Finding all indicators within normal parameters, Noam realized that her elevated stress level was probably the main issue that needed to be addressed. The caring medic engaged the couple in conversation until he heard the whole story in a roundabout manner.

Noam guided both the mother and father in relaxation breathing techniques which swiftly improved the situation. The children meanwhile, seeing that their mother and father had calmed down, stopped crying and approached their parents. The caring medic spoke gently with the kids and in a relatively short time, the home was transformed into a tranquil and safe environment.

An ambulance arrived and Noam discreetly briefed the crew on the entire incident. The couple expressed their extreme gratitude to Noam for his rapid arrival and professional, sensitive care.  Noam rushed home and proceeded to take his 3 young sons to the synagogue.

Just a typical day in the life of a United Hatzalah emergency responder.