On Monday evening, an 85-year-old man suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Modi’in and collapsed unconscious. His worried caretaker called emergency services for help. 

 

Moshe Arking was on his first shift as a United Hatzalah ambulance driver together with his wife Frances and other EMTs when they received the alert. Moshe flicked on the lights and sirens in the ambulances and rushed to the location arriving in under two minutes. Upon entering the apartment, together with another volunteer EMT on an ambucycle, they found a man in his eighties lying in a recliner, not breathing and without a pulse.

The ambulance crew after responding to the cardiac arrest in Modiin Moshe Center Frances to his left
The ambulance crew after responding to the cardiac arrest in Modi’in (Moshe – Center, Frances to his left)

The team gently laid him on the floor and initiated CPR. Moshe called United Hatzalah’s Dispatch and Command Center in order to request backup and alert them that they initiated CPR. Frances took out the bag valve mask and provided the man with assisted ventilation. “It’s amazing to see everything that you’ve practiced in the EMT course play out in a real-life situation,” she recounted after the fact. “I did not even need to think to know what to do I just followed the protocols that we were taught.” One of the other EMTs attached the defibrillator but no shock was advised. Frances, Moshe, and the other team members took turns performing chest compressions until they were eventually joined by another two additional ambulance crews.

 

“It was wonderful to see everyone working together as a team in order to save this man’s life,” Frances reflected. “After 20 minutes of compressions, we succeeded in bringing back the man’s pulse.” Frances added, “I’ve been to medical emergencies requiring CPR before but this was the first one I was a part of where the CPR has been successful. It was really an incredible feeling to be a part of this. He is an elderly man with pre-existing health conditions so I pray that he will be able to make a speedy recovery.”  

 

Moshe concluded by saying, “When we arrived at the scene, I initially thought it was too late to save this man’s life. I felt a big sense of relief when we brought back his pulse. My wife is the one who pushed me to volunteer with United Hatzalah and I’m happy that she did. Now, we not only get the opportunity on our date nights to spend time together, but we get to save lives while doing it.” 

 

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