This day wasn’t scripted or planned. Most typical first days are gradual. But the first day of Hatzalah Rescue is unlike any other experience out there.

NCSY Summer Camp is now underway.

The teens had arrived ready to begin a summer of learning, touring, and lifesaving training. Hatzalah Rescue gives NCSY participants a firsthand look into the world of emergency medical response in Israel, together with United Hatzalah’s volunteers, dispatchers, medics, paramedics, and ambulance teams. Teens are exposed to real-life skills. They learn CPR, first aid, bandaging, wound care, emergency response basics, and what it means to stay calm when someone else is in crisis. They also get to see the system from the inside, including United Hatzalah’s national dispatch center in Jerusalem, where emergency calls are received around the clock and sent out to more than 8,600 volunteers across Israel.

This year’s opening day was supposed to just break the ice. But just as the instructors began teaching the ABCs of CPR, the call came over one of their radios. Someone nearby was unconscious and needed help.

Within moments, Yoni Spigelman and two other instructors ran out and were on their way to the emergency. Don’t worry, NREMT Instructor Ari Deutsch remained with the teens, but the EMTs responded like they are trained to do.

Within minutes, they were already on scene of a real CPR emergency.

For 45 minutes they compressed, ventilated, and worked on the patient. They fought to restore a pulse. After a long and intense effort, the patient was handed over to the paramedic ambulance with a pulse.

Once the emergency was over, the instructors returned to the classroom.

But they didn’t just come back to resume the lesson. The whole experience became a first look into emergency first response medical treatment. The lesson was no longer theoretical it was practical and real.

From that moment on, the participants knew that while they might practice on a mannequin, real people were just blocks away awaiting to be helped.

That is what makes Hatzalah Rescue different.

It is not just a summer program about textbook medical training; this program brings teens closer to real-life emergency scenarios and the values that shape United Hatzalah. It shows them what happens when ordinary people make the choice to be extraordinary. It teaches them that lifesaving begins with knowledge, but it also requires responsibility, focus, and the willingness to act.

For the participants, this summer will include learning, friendships, ambulance shifts, behind-the-scenes experiences, and plenty of memories. But from the very first morning, the message was already clear.

CPR is not just a skill that is nice to have. It is a skill that allows you to respond to an emergency call that has not yet been made and help save someone’s life that is not yet at risk.

Welcome to Hatzalah Rescue 2026.